


In Time

by Arabesqueangel



Series: Time Stone [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cat Loki (Marvel), F/M, Female Loki (Marvel), Gen, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Implied/Referenced Torture, Jotunn Loki (Marvel), King Thor (Marvel), Loki (Marvel) Does What He Wants, Loki (Marvel) Feels, Loki (Marvel) Lives, Loki (Marvel) Needs a Hug, M/M, Mildly Dubious Consent, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Odin (Marvel)'s A+ Parenting, POV Loki (Marvel), POV Tony Stark, Shapeshifter Loki (Marvel), Thor (Marvel) is Not Stupid, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-26
Updated: 2018-11-10
Packaged: 2019-06-25 14:03:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 32
Words: 115,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15642240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arabesqueangel/pseuds/Arabesqueangel
Summary: One little change, after a series of spectacular mistakes, because he is Loki, and now the Asgardian refugee vessel makes it to Earth in one piece. Now that Earth has Thor, Loki wrestles with how helpful he really needs to be in this whole defeating Thanos thing. He did his part, right? Now he would much rather spend his time causing mischief (with minimal property damage and no permanent physical harm, because Thor made him promise). Also, finding ways to put a certain Billionaire, Genius, Playboy, Philanthropist out of his mind or to possibly get in his pants, he isn't quite sure yet.





	1. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow Creeps in this Petty Pace from Day to Day

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to everyone who read Time's Up! Now for something completely different! Ok, not entirely! But something that is at a much slower pace to give much more time for character development, tricks and, of course, three things sorely missing in Time's Up: actual smut, actual Civil War resolution and actual Thanos showdown. Hope you all enjoy!
> 
> I tried to give enough backstory in the opening chapter so that you don't actually have to read Time's Up for it to make sense, but I'd suggest it since you will miss lots of references.

Loki looked away hurriedly as Thor's blue eye met his own green ones. He fought to keep his discomfort off his face; Thor had caught him staring again. Loki had no idea what his brother might think about the occasions where he turned his attention to Loki and found his little brother gazing searchingly at him. He likely believed Loki was plotting some mischief. He might believe that Loki was weighing past slights. He probably believed Loki was debating leaving. None of this was actually true. More often than not, Loki was just thanking the Norns that his brother was alive. Was looking at him in wonder because they were actually here, working together. 

He could just tell Thor. There was no reason he shouldn't. Thor would be far less suspicious and infinitely grateful, which could only be beneficial to Loki. But he couldn't. 

It was a fallacy to believe that the unofficial God of Lies hates the truth, in reality it was much the opposite. Loki coveted the truth. He hoarded it greedily for himself. Like a dragon with the gold that he took from whomever he could; he rarely doled it out in turn. 

Of course, there was also the awkwardness of how to bring the topic up. Hey Thor! Did I ever tell you about the time Thanos attacked the ship because I was crazy enough to take the Tesseract from Asgard? It was quite sad. Everyone died, except for me and Bruce. I had to team up with your Avengers; they didn't like that so much. Well, Stark seemed to like it fine in the end. 

Loki chased thoughts of Iron Man out of his head. He wasn't sure why his little infatuation hadn't dissipated yet, but he wasn't going to give it any more thought than he already had. That ‘Yes’ that was Stark’s last words to him was certainly not nagging at him from the back of his mind at the most inconvenient points of the day. Even if it was, as long as he ignored it, it would go away, and he could get back to his life. Back to sanity or at least the barest bit of it he possessed. 

Back to the problem at hand, which was that Thor would never believe him. And that was before he got to the part where he went back in time and ended up screwing everything up royally, well for pretty much everyone but himself. Thor had stayed banished, New York had been wiped out, Iron Man was dead, Banner was trapped for years in his berserker form. But Loki had been king, he had his mother back, for all he refused to acknowledge her. The Tesseract had been destroyed and he had nothing to fear from Thanos as he hadn’t ever failed the Titan. He should have been completely, selfishly on board for this alternate future. 

Thor would never believe that it hadn't felt right. That the idea of him being King instead of Thor, of Tony Stark being dead, of Bruce Banner's loss, had been so wrong that Loki had gone right back and fixed it all over again. Loki sighed. He knew he would have to tell the story eventually. The Tesseract's destruction had delayed Thanos, had ensured that he would never wield the full might of the Infinity Gauntlet, but it hadn't eliminated the threat. 

The Asgardians had been on Earth for months now and the royal brothers had been busy. Norway had granted their petition to settle in some of their unoccupied country. They were all honorary citizens of Earth now. But there was still the work in building their civilization back up from nothing. That would be work enough for any man, but Loki had his separate, secret mission as well. 

In the original timeline Dr. Strange, for all his claims to protect their reality, had been woefully unprepared. Fortunately, but just this time, Dr. Strange had been their welcome party. They hadn’t been in Norway for more than a day before Strange appeared demanding to know what Loki was doing back on Earth. Loki, as promised, responded with a deep, passionate kiss right on Strange’s lips. He wasn’t sure who looked more surprised, Strange or Thor. Both stared at him, mouths gaped wide in shock. Loki wondered if Strange was often speechless; he suspected not. The mute surprise gave him time to explain about why they were on Earth and, more importantly, Thanos. Strange walked away with the information he needed to start preparing and a promise from Thor to keep Loki in line. Loki allowed it, for now. 

More significant was the nudge he had given Dr. Banner as to how Vision might be separated from the Mind Stone. This information had come from Bruce's hypothesis in the first place, Loki just made sure the scientist’s brain got on track before the threat of Thanos was too close. Loki smiled, remembering Bruce's flattered confusion when Loki had sat down with him companionably to have a drink and talk of science and magic. 

Loki had become rather fond of Bruce, both in this timeline and the original. He had been saddened by Banner's departure to the Avenger's compound, even as he was relieved that the plan was going forward. It was not even a month later that Bruce had reported to Loki, knowing Loki would be intrigued, that with the help of a Wakandan scientist, their Princess no less, they had been able to successfully separate the Mind Stone from Vision and that he was remarkably unchanged. 

What was more, Vision had apparently been romantically involved with the Scarlet Witch, something Loki had suspected but hadn't had confirmed. Between the two of them, due to the Witch's powers coming from the Mind Stone, they had been able to destroy it. So that was two Infinity Stones that would be forever out of Thanos’ reach. Not too bad for only a few months' worth of work. 

"Feeling guilty about something, Brother?" Thor's question drew Loki out of his reverie. 

"You know that I find guilt to be a pointless endeavor." Loki responded with a smirk. 

"That I do," Thor answered, far more seriously than Loki felt his comment warranted. So, this timeline wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. It was a far better situation than the last, but there would always be conflict. Even when Loki had been king, it had been at the expense of his and Thor's relationship. It seemed that Loki just couldn't stop betraying his brother. As proud as he was that Thor had grown enough to stop trusting Loki implicitly, he couldn't deny that it hurt when Thor suspected him undeservedly. 

Thor went back to scanning the plans for the first school building that were currently awaiting his approval. Thor actually had a desk, which made Loki giggle every time he really thought about it. In stark contrast to the unassuming, Midgardian furniture Thor stood in full armor. All black and silver with his typical red cape. Instead of any sort of writing instruments, Stormbreaker lay heavy and intimidating on the wood. 

That was a result of what had probably been Loki's best idea. He had managed to talk Thor into delaying their arrival on Earth to go to Nidavellir. While Thor was immensely powerful in his own right, Loki knew he missed the feel of his hammer. The dwarves were the only beings capable of making a weapon worthy to be wielded by Thor. It had taken some serious convincing, as Thor had believed that now that he had fully tapped into his lightning powers, a weapon was no longer needed as a channel. 

Eventually, Loki had to reveal some of his hidden truths. Loki had told Thor of the threat that Thanos posed. It wasn't an entirely unselfish move. Knowing that Thanos had been behind Loki's actions on Earth had helped Thor to understand how his brother had gone so astray. It didn't excuse his actions, but he knew that it had helped Thor forgive. 

He hadn't told Thor about the tortures he had endured at the hands of the Chitauri and the Other before Thanos had gotten to him. It would have only saddened and enraged Thor to know that when he had fought his brother on Earth, it had been as he had been suffering in madness, pain and hunger. He didn't reveal the marks that pain had left on his body. Didn't share the nightmares that had returned since Thanos attacked the ship. He didn't have them every night, but often enough that he had soundproofed his quarters to ensure no one would hear. His time travel had erased many mistakes; no one would know about those weaknesses; he would never reveal that vulnerability again. 

In the end, he had told Thor enough that they had gone to Nidavellir. When they got to the dying star, Loki had felt the first wisps of dread curl around his heart. The star had gone out. Its gleaming brightness darkened and hollow. Given Loki’s unfortunate history with Eitri, the head of the dwarves, he had stayed behind to man the Statesman while Thor, Heimdall, Valkyrie, Korg and Meik had gone to the rings. 

They had returned to the ship with a formidable weapon, but dire news as well. Eitri had made the Infinity Gauntlet for Thanos, answering a question Loki hadn’t even thought to ask previously. It had probably been for the better that Loki had stayed behind, he might have killed Eitri before he had a chance to make Stormbreaker. The dwarf had been an idiot to believe that Thanos would have spared his people. But Loki supposed being forced to live with that was punishment enough. 

Loki hadn't known about Stormbreaker beforehand, but as soon as Thor heard about Thanos, he had known that the weapon was needed. It was formidable. Loki could feel it hum with power from the chair he was lounging in across the room. He had always felt Mjolnir's power too, but it had been a drop in a bucket compared to the ocean that was this weapon. Stormbreaker also didn't hold that air of disapproval Loki had always felt from Mjolnir, though Loki hadn't tested that by trying to actually hold the thing. Nope, he would stick to his daggers thank you very much. He had all the power he needed, no need to go chasing down that particular rabbit hole again. 

Thor inevitably, finished scanning the plans and looked around for a pen to sign his approval. Loki conjured a pen to his hand and got up from his chair to bring it to his brother. At Loki's movement, Thor looked over in time to catch the hitch in his little brother's step. He frowned. 

"Are you hurt, Brother?" 

"Just a little training, Thor. It's been a while." Loki assured him. 

"That's what happens when you masquerade as king for two years. You get soft.” Thor chided, but it wasn't entirely unkind. It was a far cry from the Thor with blame and murder in his eyes after they watched Odin pass. 

"Indeed. Well I'm certainly paying the price." Loki said casually. He handed the pen to Thor who acknowledged him with a nod. Thor scratched out a hasty signature and then collapsed in his own chair with a sigh. 

"This is the last of the major construction projects," He said, as if Loki didn't already know. 

"We've still got to fill all these buildings with furniture and resources. There’s also that problem with the power requirements I’ve yet to solve, but yes, it does feel like we can finally breathe." Loki agreed. If there was any good time to bring this up it was now. "Thor, Brother, I would ask a favor of you." 

Thor's blue eye was on him, instantly suspicious. "What would you have of me?" He asked cautiously. 

"I would like a vacation." Loki said, and Thor frowned at him, not understanding. "A vacation is a mortal concept here on Earth. They take several days away from their tasks for leisure." 

Thor brightened at this, taking to the concept immediately. "Ah, would you like to go hunting as we used to?" 

How did he do it? How did this oaf manage to make him feel guilty and overjoyed in equal turns? The fact that Thor actually considered spending time alone with Loki for something other than duty hadn't happened since long before Loki fell. He had been firmly entrenched with Lady Sif and the Warrior's Three for centuries, Loki being the tagalong on those occasions. It made Loki reconsider his plans briefly. But no, he needed to get this out of his system. It would be better for him, for Thor, for New Asgard, in the long run. 

"Actually, Thor, as fun as that sounds. I was hoping for time alone." There was the suspicion again. When they had landed on Earth, Thor, Bruce and Loki had all agreed that Loki's presence should be kept a secret. As long as Loki stayed in New Asgard and didn't cause any trouble, there was no reason why anyone, especially the Avengers, needed to know that Loki was around. Of course, that had meant that Loki had been effectively trapped here for months, something his wanderlust-driven heart didn't care for. 

"You know you can't do that, Loki. You agreed that it was for the best that you stay here, and your presence remain a secret." 

"I know, Thor. I do still agree that it is the best course of action, but..." He trailed off wistfully, looking mournfully in the distance. 

"But what?" Thor asked, not being able to stem his concern completely with suspicion. 

"Being cooped up here for so long, it's been hard to curb my desire for mischief. I feel like I'm going to burst." Loki said. He loved when he could tell the truth but be completely misleading of his true intentions at the same time. 

"Considering I woke this morning to find that all my boots had shrunk so that they could only properly fit infants, I don't believe you are trying too hard, Brother." Thor wiggled his unclad toes under the desk as he hadn't been able to find any footwear. Loki smirked, it wasn't the most creative, but still, a king forced to rule in bare feet was amusing. 

"That's not the same; that's little stuff and it's you. I know you won't hate me for it. Admit it, it amuses you too." Thor fought the slight curling of his lips, but he didn't deny it. "I've been playing small, harmless pranks on you to curb the impulse, but I've still been restless." 

"So, we're going to call my leg swelling to three times its size from a snake that shouldn't have had venom, harmless?" 

"You lived, didn't you?" Loki pointed out. "And no one made you pick up that snake. I would have thought you had already learned your lesson on that one." Loki had made it especially good by making sure he was next to Thor when he saw the snake, so Thor knew it wasn’t Loki. Loki had even warned him not to touch it. Really, it was Thor’s own fault. 

Thor glared at him. "I still don't see why these pranks combined with all the work that we've needed to put in to rebuilding Asgard isn't enough to divert you. I collapse in bed every night in exhaustion." 

Loki nodded, so did he. The problem came from the fact that on the nights where he was lucky enough not to be plagued by nightmares, he was haunted by big brown eyes, a wicked tongue and searing kisses. 

"I wish I could provide you with a better explanation beyond my being the God of Mischief, but I can't." Loki sighed, this was not going how he would have wished. Thor was being far more stubborn than he had anticipated. Time for some more truth. "I'm really trying, Brother. I want to help our people, help you. I want to stay. But if I stay here without any creative outlet I am going to take it out on the city. It will be something I intend to be completely harmless, just a bit of fun, but it will spiral into chaos. Then everyone will pay, including myself. What's more, they will blame you just as much as they blame me, and you know that. That is something that I really don't want to do to my brother, the new King of Asgard." 

Loki could see Thor's resolve cracking when the doors burst open and Valkyrie came striding in. Loki sighed, this was really the last thing he needed right now. But the Valkyrie, in her traditional armor as always, didn't appear to be angry, so Loki might have a chance. 

"Are you busy, your Majesty?" She asked, completely ignoring Loki, which was for the best really. 

"Yes, hello, Val. Loki and I were actually just wrapping up a conversation. Do you mind?" Thor asked politely, giving her his traditional friendly grin that may have been just a bit wider for her than most. 

"Not at all," She said, but instead of leaving them alone, she continued to where they were standing next to the desk. She faux-casually moved to lean her elbow on Loki's shoulder, a bit of a trick considering how much taller Loki was than she. 

When Loki flinched away, she laughed. "Still hurting from the ass-kicking you got this morning?" 

Actually, he was. Loki wasn't a particularly good healer and he had been wanting to save his magic for his intended vacation. As such, he was still sore; hence the hitch in his step that he had written off to Thor as training. 

"Ass-kicking?" Thor asked, frowning between the two of them. 

"As I told you, Brother. Training." Loki said, hoping that the Valkyrie would keep it between them. 

He had no such luck as she burst out laughing again. "Training, huh? Maybe training you not to mess with my stuff." She didn't seem as furious about it as she had this morning, so there was that. 

"What did he do?" Thor asked resignedly. 

"He turned my sword to glass. When I went to train with one of the new guards it shattered. We were both covered in scratches and I thought my weapon had been destroyed." 

"I didn't turn it to glass, I replaced it with a glass copy. Your sword is fine." Loki responded, mostly for Thor's benefit. That had been the reason for most of his beating. Valkyrie had been concerned that he had intentionally destroyed the only remaining Dragonfang. Her lack of anger now must mean that she had found where he had hidden the real one. 

"And here I thought I was special." Thor bemoaned, and Loki laughed. "What was that you said about not wreaking mischief on anyone but me?" Thor asked him. 

"Valkyrie doesn't count. She'll just whip me in the training yards. She won't blame you for not being able to keep me under control," Loki said. 

"As if anyone could," Valkyrie responded with a snort. Loki took that as a compliment and grinned at her. 

Thor sighed and turned to Valkyrie. "Loki has been feeling the need to wreak havoc somewhere and is trying to convince me I should allow him the freedom to do so outside of New Asgard, unaccompanied." 

Loki grunted. Well, it had been a noble effort, but the battle was lost. When Thor phrased it like that and sought Valkyrie's council, Loki would be stuck here for centuries yet. Stark would be long gone by the time Loki was allowed free. 

He tried to tamp down the feeling of panic that thought inspired. Trapped. He had felt it while in the Chitauri's clutches, again while in Asgard's dungeons, less so while on Sakaar, but it had been present. While he chose to be with Thor in New Asgard, it was no less a cage as circumstances currently stood. Large, comfortable, and distracting, but a cage nonetheless. 

"What kind of havoc do you plan on wreaking?" Valkyrie asked, turning to Loki. Well, that was unexpected. 

"It wouldn't be any fun if I told you." Loki answered. 

Valkyrie seemed to consider this for a moment. "Would you be willing to submit to conditions?" She asked. Thor and Loki looked at her with matching expressions of shock. 

"You don't seriously intend me to consider this?" Thor asked her. Secretly, Loki had the exact same question, but he could almost feel the shackles lightening. 

"If it keeps him from causing trouble here, when everything is already so fragile and if he doesn't cause any major, lasting harm. Why not? I know I could use some time where I can be certain that all of my possessions will remain as intended." Loki could have kissed Valkyrie for what she said, but he'd leave that to Thor. Eventually. When they stopped stubbornly ignoring their feelings. Maybe in a hundred years or so. 

Thor turned to Loki, "Would you be willing to agree to that?" 

"It depends upon the conditions," Loki hedged. 

Thor thought about it for a moment. "You wouldn't be able to look like yourself in order to keep your presence here a secret." 

That was an easy one, Loki had already intended to shapeshift. He nodded. "Done. I will also swear to no murder or large-scale destruction." He said, rather magnanimously he thought. 

"You will swear to no property damage and no harm to anyone." Thor commanded. Loki had a sudden image of biting Stark's throat in the heat of passion. No, he couldn't agree to absolutely no form of harm. 

"I will swear to no damages that the person cannot afford and no permanent physical harm." Loki countered, enjoying the back and forth. He could see Thor's wheels turning as he debated if this was enough of a promise to keep Loki from seriously hurting someone while still sating his desire for troublemaking. 

Thor looked over to Valkyrie, who shrugged. The gesture seemed to indicate that it was the best they could hope for. 

"All right," Thor said. "Three days, Loki." 

"Thank you, Brother. I swear will be back in three days having followed all your conditions." Loki agreed. 

"Which are?" Thor prodded. He had very rarely gotten Loki to swear an oath, but he knew that Loki wouldn't break it. Which was, of course, why Loki swore them so infrequently; where was the fun in doing exactly as you were told? However, Thor also knew that Loki was excellent with following the letter of the oath, as opposed to the intent. 

"I vow that for the next three days, I will not appear in my current shape anywhere outside of New Asgard. I further swear that I will not cause any property damage that would be either monetarily or emotionally damaging to any mortal. I swear that I will not cause any permanent physical damage to any mortal unless it is in defense of my own life." At the last moment he was thankful he had thought to add that condition. If everything went terribly wrong and he was put into danger, there was no way he was just going to lie down and take it just because he swore to Thor. 

Thor seemed to accept the wording of his oath as well as the qualifier and nodded his agreement. "If you don't..." 

"Then you will come after me personally, I know Thor. Don't worry, Brother." Loki assured him with a grin. 

"Actually, I won't. I'll send Valkyrie." Thor said with a smile, which made Loki's smirk fall off his face. Valkyrie was smiling as well and damn if it wasn’t the scariest thing he had ever seen. 

"Understood."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone see the loophole in Loki's vow?


	2. A Rose by Any Other Name

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is where the Mildly Dubious Consent tag comes into play, see after chapter notes if you have a big issue with this and need to skip the chapter for a quick summary. This is also where we get explicit as well.

Tony Stark wandered around the party aimlessly. He was incredibly bored. There weren't many new people at this particular party and those that were, were incredibly dull. He tried to remember what this party was for, why he was here, but his mind was a blank. He might have remembered four, or was it five?, scotches ago, but he was riding a pleasant buzz of not giving a fuck. 

He had often felt this way at many parties throughout the years, but it seemed like an increasingly common occurrence. His enjoyment of these events had taken a dip parallel to his decreasing interest in one-night stands. Not that Tony had given those up entirely, he had a reputation to uphold after all, but they were much less frequent. Tony had gotten pickier, sought them out less actively. He was starting to worry that his libido was slowing down. 

He glanced at his watch or, more importantly, the timer that told him how long he had before he could leave. Pepper had set it and FRIDAY would inform her if he left before it went off; like he was a child or something. He would neither confirm nor deny the fact that he would have already left if it wasn't for that stupid timer. 

He finished his scotch and glared at the ice left in the glass. If he had just under an hour left to go, he would definitely need more scotch. He walked over to the bar, ordered his drink, and turned his back to the waiter, scanning the room. Most people were talking, nibbling on hors d'oevres. Some were dancing to the big band music that they had going, which was actually not totally terrible. Sure, it was no hard rock, but at least it wasn't some classical shit. 

Someone sidled up to the bar next to him, but only got his attention when they ordered The Macallan Cask Strength, the exact scotch he had just ordered. The fact that they had done so in a sexy melodic tone added to the curiosity. He turned to face a stunning woman. She was tall and thin with milky pale skin. She had sharp features and lush ruby red lips. Her hair was inky black and fell in soft curls to the small of her back. 

Her dress was an acid green cocktail number with straps strategically placed to look like they were just about to fall off her shoulders. He followed the dress as it clung to her petite breasts and slim waist before it flared out over her hips. It was slightly shorter in the front than back, hitting just above her knees. He greedily took in the slim pale legs that ended in matching green, not too high heels. She was a knockout, managing to look both classically elegant and sexy at the same time. 

She must have sensed his gaze because she turned to look at him. He was struck by the most intensely deep green eyes he had ever seen. She was wearing enough makeup to emphasize her features, but also make it seem as if she was wearing none, apart from her bold lips. She was also wearing simple, tasteful black pearls that were probably ridiculously expensive, but still managed to look modest. She gave him a small quizzical smile. 

"Hello?" She said, with a hint of a question. She had an accent he couldn't place, other than that it seemed familiar. It was vaguely British, but not quite right. Her voice was lower than most women's, practically oozing sex. 

"Well hello there! I heard your order and I had to take a look at the only person in this room with as good of taste as mine." 

"I know you are complimenting me, so I should just go with it but, my do you think much of yourself?" She responded with a slight lessening of her smile. 

"Of course, I do, darling. I'm me." He said with his winningest smile. 

"Ok, I'll bite. You are?" She asked. Tony was struck dumb. Sure, she wasn't American, but he was ridiculously well known elsewhere too, for being Iron Man if not for being the billionaire, genius, playboy philanthropist. 

"Tony Stark?" He said, and he couldn't manage to keep the question out of his voice as if he wasn't sure himself who he was anymore. No, he wasn't going to read too much into that thought. At another look of no recognition, he deflated further. "Iron Man?" 

He must have looked truly pathetic because she didn't hold on to that baffled look for long. Those bitable lips curved up into a wicked smile and Tony realized she had been fucking with him. He was now even more turned on. Those looks and a killer sense of humor? A dangerous combination. 

"Not many people can get me like that. May I know the name of my vanquisher?" Tony asked. 

"Once again with the flattery, Stark. You'll turn a girl's head. I am Angelica Engison." She held out her hand to shake his. He noted that her nails also matched her dress. There wasn't an inch of her that wasn't perfectly put together. Also, referring to him by his last name set up a hot flare of lust in his gut that he didn't quite understand. It should sound jarring, cold, but mostly it sounded like a fond nickname. 

"Engison, now that's an odd last name. Is it from the same place as your accent? I can't quite peg it." 

"Engison is from somewhere in Scandinavia, I believe. My accent is from all over I'm afraid. While we did live in both Sweden and Denmark growing up, I was born in London and I've also lived in Glasgow and Paris. So, my accent is a bit of a mutt." 

"But an attractive mutt." Tony replied. "So, what brings you to this lackluster party?" 

She bit her bottom lip in nervous thought and it sent a tingle down Tony's spine. He hadn't been this immediately attracted to anyone in years. 

"I'm afraid it's rather cliché." She began. "I'm trying to become an actress." 

"Well your first tip is that you aren't 'trying to become' an actress. You are an actress." 

"Hmmm... and how many aspiring actresses did you have to bang to collect this expert advice?" Angelica asked, and Tony laughed at the dichotomy of the crude statement and that smooth accent. 

"Dozens. They weren't very smart, so it took a while." Tony said and then realized that he had inadvertently insulted his new friend. 

Angelica turned for a moment and Tony thought he had lost her, but it was only to grab her drink. She took a stiff belt and considered Tony for a moment. 

"You mean most don't have doctorates?" She asked casually. 

"I'm assuming that means you do? In what?" Tony asked, sure she was baiting him, but he would happily bite. 

"My specialty was Shakespeare." Ah, it just figured. European chicks were always into Shakespeare, this was some dedication though. 

"So, why get a doctorate if you wanted to be an actress?" Tony asked, and realized that he was legitimately interested. That was new. 

"The doctorate was a dictate from my parents. I do enjoy Shakespeare, it's why I chose it, but I couldn't stand the thought of standing in front of a classroom talking to myself as I get ignored by students only interested in additional credits. So, I told my parents to go fuck themselves and here I am." She finished her drink with a grin and indicated to the bartender that she wanted another. 

"So, this is an all or nothing proposition for you, huh? It's all on the line." 

Angelica snorted. "Oh please. If I fail at this, I'll just go home contrite. I'll put in a few months at some job they set up for me until I find something else to disappoint them about." 

If that didn’t hit Tony in the gut, he didn’t know what would. He could practically hear himself say those exact words thirty years ago. Sure, she seemed of an age where she actually went to college at the normal time, but she was probably early thirties if he had to take a guess, so not long out of a doctorate. 

"Oh, you are bad." Tony praised. 

"There is nothing good or bad but thinking makes it so." She responded. 

"Spoken like a true troublemaker." 

"It's Shakespeare. It only indicates that I'm a scholar." Angelica said with a wink. 

"Because Shakespeare wasn't a troublemaker at all?" Tony countered, and the woman conceded the point with a tip of her glass. 

"Likely why I took to him so fiercely. I do adore someone who isn't afraid to buck the system." She looked Tony up and down in a way that needed no translation. 

Tony looked at his watch, still some time left before he could go. He started contemplating where they could possibly duck into that FRIDAY wouldn't consider leaving the party, but then he stopped. He actually wanted to spend more time with this woman. He wanted to enjoy the party with her, take her home for a full night. This was even less common nowadays than the drunken one-night stands. 

“Oh dear, have I bored the great Tony Stark already? Not too much of a surprise, you don’t generally go for the witty ones, do you?” She raised an eyebrow challengingly. 

“Hey, I’ve slept with my fair share of reporters.” Tony countered, and the aspiring actress snorted. 

“Still, I suppose I will understand if you’d like to ditch me for some ditzy blonde.” Angelica scanned the crowd and pointed out a tall, busty girl in a purple dress with platinum hair. “She looks rather easy.” 

Tony laughed. “Nah, Princess, I am perfectly happy right here.” Strangely, the smug smirk fell of her face at that. Tony suddenly wondered if she had been legitimately trying to get rid of him. 

“Why would you call me that?” She asked. 

“Princess?” He asked, and she nodded. “I don’t know. It’s what I do. All women like being princesses, right?” 

“Responsibility, duty, custom, stress, press and no fun. No thank you.” She said, but her smile was returning. 

Ok, that was weird. It felt very much like she was trying to hide being a princess, which was way too rom-com to be real life. Plus, he had made it a point in the past to familiarize himself with all the princesses he could potentially sleep with, and she was not on the list. So, either she was trying to seem more mysterious or... well Tony couldn’t think of any other good reason for the odd behavior. Something against Disney maybe? He was trying to decide if it was a turnoff when she spoke again. 

“Would you like to dance?” Her smile was glowing again. 

“To this? No thank you.” Tony declined. “I’ve put in too many years of dancing to the same shit over and over again.” It had absolutely nothing to do with a life-changing dance with a certain employee of his. 

“So if the music was different, you would dance with me?” 

Tony shrugged, “Maybe, depends on the music.” 

She put her, now empty, glass down, grinned at him and then sauntered over to the band. Tony watched her walk away, admiring the view. Yeah, he didn’t care if she was trying too hard to be mysterious. She was hot and fun and he would definitely spend the night with her given the chance. As she laid her charm on the drummer, Tony wondered what she hoped to gain from this endeavor. 

He wasn’t an idiot. No matter how good he looked, he was pushing fifty. She was young but no so young that she would think she had a shot with him long term. She also seemed too smart and self-assured to want him just to be able to brag about a night with Tony Stark. Rebellion from conservative parents seemed like a safe bet, but why him? Why not some actor who could also propel her career forward? 

When she began walking back a familiar tune started to play, Angelica smiled at him like the cat that ate the canary. It took him a moment to place the song, but he pegged it before she had even gotten back to him. It was Hells Bells by AC/DC. 

Now, it wasn’t like it was a secret that Tony Stark liked AC/DC; He had used their songs at numerous events. But this wasn’t something obvious like Shoot to Thrill or Back in Black, though those probably would have been much harder to dance to anyways. To his knowledge, he’d never used Hells Bells publicly before. It wasn’t a preferred song of his. Though, of course, saying Hell Bells wasn’t a preferred AC/DC song was like saying rum wasn’t a preferred alcohol; it was still better than the alternative. 

Tony had known Angelica was teasing him about not knowing who he was. This song choice, though, displayed a level of foreknowledge of his preferences he wouldn’t expect from a non-American PHD, aspiring actress or no. He suddenly wondered if her liquor choice had been catered to him as well, but she did knock it back easily enough. One thing was looking likely, Angelica Engison had meant to meet Tony Stark at this party. The question was why? 

She held out her hands for him to take as she got close enough. “Well?” 

“AC/DC, huh?” Tony asked. 

“So, will you dance?” She asked, her grin widened, if that was even possible, when Tony nodded yes and pulled her close, his hand going around her waist. 

“You know, AC/DC is my favorite band.” Tony said casually. 

“Is it?” Angelica asked innocently, but she pulled back enough that he had full view of her face. Her face said very clearly that of course she knew that, why the hell else would she have picked it? It was a very expressive eyebrow. “But I do enjoy this song anyways.” 

They danced silently for a few minutes before Tony caught that she was singing along to some of the lyrics. 

“I’ll give you black sensations up and down your spine. If you’re into evil, you’re a friend of mine.” Tony shivered. Of course, her singing voice would be as good as her speaking. It also lessened some of his suspicion. If she knew the lyrics well enough to sing in the right places to a changed up instrumental, this couldn’t all be for Tony’s benefit. 

Screw suspicion, he wanted her. Angelica’s body pressed up against his own, her husky voice in his ear just cemented it. She definitely had her own agenda, but as long as that included sex with Tony, he was perfectly fine. What was the harm? He’d take her back to his new mansion in Malibu, which didn’t even have any of the super-secret superhero stuff anymore. She’d be watched at all times by either Tony or FRIDAY. He no longer relied on the reactor to stay alive, so sleeping wasn’t a concern. They would have lots of sex, and then he would politely show her the door in the morning. 

The song ended, and they pulled back from each other to make eye contact. Her pupils were dilated in a way that would be very hard to fake. Whatever else was going on here, there was some genuine attraction. After a few more dances, drinks and some more seriously hot flirting, Tony’s timer went off with a discrete vibration against his wrist. 

“Want to blow this popsicle stand, gorgeous?” Tony asked. 

“Popsicle stand?” She laughed. 

“Sure, you don’t have any of those in Europe?” 

“Not as such.” 

“You aren’t missing much, it’s why we blow them here.” Tony assured her. Figuring she wasn’t saying no, he started leading her out the door. She went along gleefully, following him right into the backseat of the car. He spared little attention to the driver as he suddenly had a lapful of beautiful woman. 

Tony hadn’t had a permanent driver since Happy. He mostly liked to drive himself anyways, when he wasn’t drinking, and events where he was drinking out had become far fewer. It had seemed like too much work to find someone permanent, so he mostly used a service. He always used his own car though, better drink selection. 

He kept one arm securely around Angelica’s waist as he leaned over to pour them both a drink. Tony had actually gotten quite adept at pouring drinks one handed and very quickly was handing Angelica a glass before taking up his own. She practically purred in appreciation and tipped their glasses together briefly to make a tinkling noise. She emptied the glass with as much gusto as she had at the party and then set the glass down on the seat behind her. 

Suddenly, her attention was all on him and she eyed him with a feral grin. She deliberately plucked his mostly empty glass from his hand and set it aside too. There was a bit of wriggling and suddenly he had a toned thigh on either side of his hip and they were pressed together from chest to groin. 

Angelica made a pleased sound at the back of her throat that took Tony’s arousal instantly from a solid six to a ten. Then her lips were on his and numbers were no longer in the equation anymore. She nipped and sucked at his lips like she was trying to devour him. He wasn’t too proud to admit that he was fighting just to keep up. Tony grabbed the back of her head to control the kiss, take it deeper, and get his tongue into that sweet mouth of hers. He was half expecting a fight, she seemed like the dominant type, but she moaned at the grip and that allowed him to lay siege upon her mouth. 

Her hands seemed to be everywhere, his thighs, his chest, his hair. Then suddenly his shirt was slowly, agonizingly slowly, being pulled from his pants. He concentrated on the kissing, but soon he was just dying to pull the shirt up himself, to feel her hands on his skin. But the torture was a pleasure in itself so, he let her have her fun. While it felt like an eternity, it was probably no more than a few minutes before his shirt was freed and her hands were sliding up his abs. 

He jumped at first at the skin contact. Her hands were cooler than he’d expect from someone this many drinks in. She pulled away from their kiss briefly to look at him in question, biting her lip. Once he got used to the temperature he decided he needed to be the one biting that lip and he dove in again. Now that her hands were on skin they were much less frenzied, more deliberate in their movements. 

She played his muscles like an instrument, stroking here, plucking there, sending jolts of pleasure through him. The song she was composing was absolutely hypnotizing and he was startled when the car door suddenly opened. He hadn’t even noticed the car had stopped. Tony was fairly sure that at this point he must have gotten out of the car, tipped the driver and gone in the house towards the bedroom. But all he could really remember was hot lips, cool hands, green eyes and the slow but methodical removal of clothing as they made their way to the bedroom. 

Angelica squealed a bit as Tony threw her onto the bed. She gasped when he was quickly above her on all fours kissing his way down her neck, her bust, her slim waste. He just kept kissing down to her toes, painted the same acid green as her nails, naturally. Then he moved to the other foot and started right back up. When he got to back her mouth, she growled into the searing kiss and suddenly he was on his back with her above him. He chalked it up to the alcohol, but it seemed like that would have taken a bit more strength than he would have expected from a petite, if tall, woman. But then her hand was wrapped firmly around his cock and he really didn’t care to overthink it. 

Tony steadied his hands on Angelica’s hips as she started a smooth, grinding rhythm that she perfectly mimicked with her hand sliding up and down his shaft. She trailed kisses and little nibbling bites down his neck, worrying at the spot right where the neck met shoulder, sending sparks of pleasure down to his gut. Tony just barely had enough mental capacity to remove his right hand and start rummaging in his bedside table. 

Of course, nothing came to hand immediately and the movement finally distracted Angelica. She stopped her motion, leaning back and fixing him with a discontented eyebrow. 

“Condom,” He explained simply and continued rummaging. 

She looked no less disdainful at his explanation. She slid her left hand down his right arm and snagged his wrist. Once his arm had bent sufficiently, her fingers slid up from his wrist to entwine with his until they were holding hands. It was an oddly intimate gesture that she then repeated with his other hand. 

She assaulted his mouth thoroughly, tongue seeking each bit of space to claim as its own, as she slowly moved his hands to above his head. Once all four of their hands were together just under the headboard, she released her right hand. Her left hand struck quickly, snagging both his wrists in an iron grip that she pressed against the mattress. 

Angelica leaned back then, let him have full view of that impossibly red smirk above that gorgeously a pale bust, breasts firm, nipples erect. Painfully slowly, her right hand trailed down his cheek, his neck, his chest. It circled his nipple playfully a few times before trailing down his abs. He had a moment of clarity where he knew exactly what she was going to do before she did it as her hand gripped his dick firmly. 

Tony’s word of protest fell away to a strangled groan as she lined herself up and plunged down on his cock until their pelvises met. Words weren’t a thing anymore; all that existed was tight heat. But then she started moving and there was wet friction of the best kind. Angelica let his hands go and he was able to get a grip around her hips, palm her ass. He led their torturously slow pace into something approaching what he would consider an appropriate speed. 

They went like this for some time, until Angelica leaned down to claim a kiss. The change of angle had Tony groaning and Angelica letting out small, pleased gasps at every thrust. They were entwined together with maximum contact and that smooth skin against his own ramped up the sensations to maximum. 

Angelica’s tantalizing sounds were getting louder and faster, the rhythm of her hips started stuttering a bit. Tony went harder and quicker, pushing her to completion. She muffled her moan as she came by biting Tony’s neck right where it met his shoulder, hard. The spark of pain and pleasure was enough to send Tony over the edge and he came with a shout. 

They lay there panting for a few minutes, still wrapped around each other. Then slowly, Angelica rolled off him with a pleased moan. When she was fully onto the bed next to him, she pulled the sheet up to just barely cover those beautiful breasts, curled up against his side like a cat, and almost instantly fell asleep. Tony wasn’t much of a cuddler, but the side pressed against his own, without any arm trapping him in any particular position was comforting and he found himself drifting off quickly. 

Tony woke in the morning to clear skies through his floor to ceiling windows, no longer darkened against the view, FRIDAY’s weather report and an empty bed. He didn’t think much of it until he started walking towards the kitchen for his coffee and came upon the trail of clothes connecting the front door with the bedroom. 

First, he remembered deep green eyes, then long black hair that was particularly fun to wrap around his hand and tug. Then the entire night came back to him in a rush. Their first, hurried yet completely satisfying bout. Then waking up to her talented mouth around his cock. He had been pleased to confirm that, age be damned, he could go a second round with the proper stimuli. Then it was all pleased, satisfied sleep with a small hip pressed up against his own. 

“FRIDAY, when did our guest leave?” Tony asked. It wasn’t entirely a first for him that his guest left before he had a chance to show them out, but it was definitely uncommon. 

“Miss Engison left at 6:07am,” FRIDAY responded promptly. It was now 7:30. 

“Early bird, huh?” Tony said casually as he poured his coffee. “Show me the video.” 

He sipped his coffee as he watched Angelica carefully get out of bed, looking at Tony cautiously to ensure that her movement wasn’t waking him. Once out of bed she snagged her bra and started following the trail of clothing. The video feed switched to the hall and followed her as she claimed the different pieces of the previous night’s wardrobe, until she came to her shoes just beside the door. Tony enjoyed the sight of her getting dressed almost as much as undressing her. Quickly enough, she was fully clothed but held her shoes in her hand as she returned to the bedroom. 

She didn’t enter the room, just stopped in the doorway watching Tony sleep for a moment. Then she shook her head, a soft, fond smile on her lips. She blew a kiss towards him before turning around and walking straight out the front door. It took a moment before Tony realized she had been missing something. 

“Did she call a car or anything?” He asked. 

“No, sir, she didn’t have any electronic devices on her person.” FRIDAY answered. Well that was suspicious. Who didn’t always have a phone on them? Now that Tony thought about it, she hadn’t had a purse either. Maybe she had checked it and left it at the party? But what woman forgets about her purse? Even for sex with Tony Stark? 

“Show me the security feed from out front as she’s leaving.” Tony said and watched intently as the woman calmly walked barefoot down the driveway and out of sight of the camera. 

“Is she walking home? Barefoot?” Tony asked. 

“It would appear so, sir.” FRIDAY responded. 

Maybe she didn’t want Tony to see her calling an Uber as opposed to a car service? Maybe she didn’t want the awkward conversation of obviously doing the walk of shame from Iron Man’s mansion? But again, she had no phone so how would she do any of that? 

“What’s the nearest outside camera we have access to, FRIDAY?” Tony asked. 

“That would be just down the drive at the first traffic light, sir.” FRIDAY responded promptly. 

“Show me that feed from 6:07am.” Tony said and watched the feed. And watched. And watched some more. Angelica never showed up. Three cars traveled through that intersection over the span of about fifteen minutes. Angelica must have got in one of them in the blind spot between Tony’s security cameras and the traffic cam. That or she disappeared. Tony chuckled as he finished his coffee and poured himself another cup. 

“All right, Angelica” Tony said. “You win; I’m intrigued.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tony has sex with a woman he meets at a party. It isn't explicitly stated since it's his POV, but this woman is very clearly Loki in disguise, but since Tony doesn't know this when he sleeps with her and probably wouldn't have hopped into bed with her quite so easily if he knew this was Loki, I decided the Dubious consent tag was necessary. Loki also refuses a condom when Tony instigates sex, also a big red flag.
> 
> There isn't any other plot points to note from this chapter except that Tony sleeps with a woman and then she completely (non-magically that he can tell) disappears in the morning which gets his attention.
> 
> Also, I'm sorry. This is a really shitty thing for Loki to do, but it felt like what needed to happen for his character.


	3. O Mischief Thou Art Swift to Enter the Hearts of Desperate Men

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This should clear up the confusion of Loki's intentions from the previous chapter. Enjoy!

Loki knew when she teleported into her room that Thor would be waiting for her. She hadn’t put a spell on the room to disallow any visitors that she had not expressly invited, as she had in her old chambers in Asgard; that would have been far too suspicious for the tentative truce she had with her brother. But she had put a spell to inform her when anybody entered, and he had done so no more than twenty minutes ago. It had actually been a rather convenient wakeup call that had ensured no awkward morning after talk with Stark. 

That being said, she was annoyed, but not surprised, when she arrived in her room to find Thor casually skimming a book. It was a compilation of Shakespeare actually, and Loki grinned at the memory of last night. 

“This is how you repay me for being allowed in my room? Going through my things?” Loki asked in a voice that was very similar to her male form’s. 

Thor jumped guiltily and spun around to face her, a chastened half-smile on his face. “Brother, I...” He trailed off as he took in Loki’s appearance. He was quiet for several seconds as he considered the form in front of him. 

Loki fought the desire to squirm. She looked exactly as you would expect someone to look after they had sex indiscriminately and had returned home with no cleansing or change of clothing. Her dress was wrinkled after spending the night on the floor of Tony Stark’s living room. Her hair was in disarray, half of the curls had fallen out into straight locks, the others curled further with the sweat of the night’s labors. Most of her makeup was rubbed away leaving only dark smudges under her eyes. Loki considered changing to her male form right there to distract from the implications of her current look, but that would seem too much like shame. 

“My apologies, Sister.” Thor clarified and it warmed Loki’s heart just a bit. Despite Thor’s joining in on the teasing of her “womanly ways” on the training grounds, he’d always been oddly respectful of Loki’s taking on this female form. Loki hadn’t taken it well in the past, convinced that the courtly treatment was just another way for Thor to mock. 

Then again, Loki hadn’t done this very often, never in the past several centuries that she could recall. Odin hadn’t approved of this particular facet of Loki’s shapeshifting, or any shapeshifting really, but especially into female form. The Allfather had never banned it outright, but when her father’s approval had meant everything to Loki, it hadn’t seemed like too much of a loss to give it up. 

“I know Thor, you were just making sure I was sticking to my vow.” Loki said as she tossed the heels onto the bed. 

“No,” clarified Thor, and he actually looked a bit wounded at Loki’s words. “I knew you wouldn’t brake your vow, I just wanted to see how your vacation was. If you felt refreshed. It felt odd, not having you around.” 

Loki was sure Thor wasn’t telling the whole truth, but she wasn’t sure if she cared. Thor had missed having her around, was asking after her mood. It was enough. 

“It was exactly what I needed.” Loki responded with a grin that probably would have looked a bit scarier on her male form. Visions of the previous night came to mind: Stark’s groan as she bit his neck, his pleased surprise at her choice of song, his pathetic face at her pretense of not recognizing him. It was a perfect night and exactly what she had needed to get the inventor out of her system. They’d had sex and, while it had been as good as she had anticipated, she could now move on with her life. 

“What made you decide on this particular form for your mischief?” Thor asked, interrupting Loki’s reminiscing. 

“Well, you had said that I couldn’t be in my regular form, of course.” Loki responded like it was obvious. 

“That didn’t answer my question.” Thor countered. It was not yet seven in the morning, how was Loki expected to verbally spar with her brother after the night she had? Curse Thor for being a morning person. 

“This form feels like me, even if it isn’t the one the people of Earth recognize. It just felt... right.” There was no harm in the truth when she was too tired to come up with a suitable lie. “Now if you don’t mind, Brother, I am rather tired.” 

Loki made a shooing motion and Thor nodded and acquiesced with a smile. 

“Remember, Sister, we are meeting the council at lunchtime. As your vacation has finished, I expect to see you there.” Thor said with a wink. Loki growled, that was exactly what she wanted today, a meeting with Thor, Valkyrie, Heimdall and Eir. 

“And as you know, my greatest wish is always to fulfill your expectations.” Loki snorted, but Thor just smiled and closed the door as he exited the room. Loki stripped and got into bed, closing her eyes. She wondered if she could sleep, if it was even worth it for the few hours before she would need to be up and meeting their little council. But she drifted off before she could even make the decision. 

Hours later, Loki was seated at the little round table in what had been dubbed the Meeting Room, adjacent to Thor’s office. This room had originally been planned for Loki’s office, but he had disliked the idea of having a set room where people felt like they could interrupt him any time they wanted. So now it was the Meeting Room. 

Hours later, even after he had showered and shifted his shape, Loki still felt like he could smell Stark’s cologne on him. It made him feel self-conscious, sure everyone else could smell it as well. He didn’t like the looks that Valkyrie was shooting him, but it was probably unrelated; he had left her a little surprise, just so she wouldn’t miss him too much. The worse thing about all this was, he liked the smell. It kept bringing up very pleasant images, but that was precisely the opposite of his intentions for this whole endeavor. 

Loki wasn’t sure exactly when he had decided he wouldn’t be taking Stark up on his 'yes’. It had been somewhere between all of the time travel mess and when they’d arrived on Earth. He had noticed that the man had taken up an inordinate percentage of this thoughts that should have turned elsewhere, after all, there had been quite a lot going on at the time. With all of that, Stark had been what he had been most looking forward to about this new future of theirs. 

But Stark also made him vulnerable. Loki had shared truths with the man that he hadn’t with anyone else, particularly Thor. He still wasn’t quite sure what magic the hero possessed that enabled this, but he didn’t want to find out if it was just as potent now as it had been. Then there was the fact that there were many reasons why he had changed that alternate future, but Stark’s death had been very high on the list; Loki didn’t really want to consider how high. He couldn’t allow anyone to have that kind of power over him; so, he had decided that instead of seeking the man out, he would forget about him entirely. That had just proven to be easier said than done. 

“What do you think, Brother?” Thor asked Loki, drawing his attention back to the discussion. Thor had raised an eyebrow at his sibling’s switch back to male form but hadn’t said a word. He just started the meeting as Loki, intentionally, had been the last to arrive, late. Of course, Loki had immediately started focusing on the responses of the other attendees between bouts of daydreaming about Stark and trying not to daydream about Stark and therefore had missed everything that had been discussed thus far. 

“I always have an opinion on everything, Thor.” Loki responded. 

“And your particular opinion on this matter would be?” Valkyrie asked, not giving any additional details with that smug smile on her face. 

“I think I need further clarification on the matter before I can give an informed opinion.” Loki hedged. 

Thor sighed. “You told me you’ve been looking into this for weeks. How much more clarification do you need?” Ah, they were talking about the power requirements. 

“Midgardian technology is more varied than I had expected. They all seem to have differing opinions on what is the best source of power. Nothing they use seems to be what they would consider entirely ‘clean’. Not to mention they would all be ridiculously expensive for our power requirements. That’s not even touching on the conversion process. I’m still looking into options, but I have a feeling that we are going to need to develop something completely new.” 

Thor just nodded, and they moved along to establishing the school. For lack of anything better to do, Loki checked the tracker he had put on Stark in his sleep. It may not have been the best plan; his intention had been to sleep with Stark and move on but seeing the man all innocent and helpless as he was sleeping, Loki had felt this oddly protective feeling, hence the tracker. It looked like Stark was still home, likely sleeping in or fiddling in his workshop. Loki idly wondered if Stark was thinking about him, well her, as well. Once again, he was directly addressed, bringing him out of his reverie. 

“That wouldn’t be too much to ask, would it, Loki?” Eir had asked him. Based on the searching looks the others were giving him, Loki had the strong sense that it was actually too much to ask. 

“Yes, yes it would.” He responded, and Thor groaned. 

“Loki,” Eir said in that chiding voice he remembered so well from his healing lessons with her growing up. He had been a terrible student; he had wanted to learn magic more than anything, but he had hoped he could fight the “womanly” stigma by being terrible at healing. Frigga had still insisted on lessons with Asgard’s top healer. He had managed the terrible at healing part, but not so much the fighting the womanly stigma. “I’m surprised you would turn your back on children who have shown such promise in magic. You know I can only do so much. While healing is certainly something that we could use more of, even I can admit that having more well-rounded magic users around would be a boon.” 

Loki looked around at the assembled Asgardians, they weren’t seriously talking about trusting him with children, were they? Was the world descending into madness? How was it possible that he was the sane one? First people entrust him to go back in time and now with impressionable, young minds. Loki laughed, but when no one joined in, he realized they were serious. What could he possibly say to that? 

“You’re right, Eir. That would certainly be advisable and no, it’s not too much to ask. I should not have made light of the situation.” Is what came out of Loki’s mouth, though where it came from he had no idea. The more time he spent with the woman again, the more he was starting to think that she had the magic of guilt that his mother had also seemed to possess. 

Thor smiled so widely, Loki was concerned his lips might crack. Loki was tempted to freeze them that way but figured he had probably pushed his luck enough for one meeting. He managed to stay on task for the remaining hour and not drift back into the very lovely land of daydreaming, but it was touch and go. Finally, Thor said the meeting was done and Loki fled back to his room. 

Later that evening, he was playing on his tablet, trying to work up more motivation for energy research, when Thor knocked on his door. 

“Come in, Thor.” He called absentmindedly. 

“How did you know it was me?” Thor asked. 

“Who else would it be?” Loki asked, throwing Thor an irritated look. “No one else here would seek out my company.” 

“Eir seems rather fond of you.” 

“Eir thinks I am a disobedient child who just needs a little structure to be set on the right path.” Loki continued to keep his attention on his tablet, hoping that Thor would take the hint and leave. 

“Maybe Eir isn’t entirely wrong.” Thor responded because he was biologically incapable of taking hints. 

Loki met Thor’s eye long enough to appropriately convey his displeasure, before returning to his work. “I am not going to dignify that with a response.” 

“What has your attention so completely brother?” Thor asked finally. 

“I’m trolling.” Loki said without a thought. At the long pause a grin spread across his face as he realized Thor would have no idea what that meant. 

“Trolls?” Thor questioned, his interest peaked. Loki and Thor had done their fair share of troll hunting, with the Warrior’s Three and Lady Sif of course, throughout their lives. 

“Yes, here on Earth the trolls are infecting the internet. So, the only way to combat them is via these tablets. Or a full computer if they are particularly vicious. It’s just a hobby I’ve picked up in my spare time.” 

“Really? That is oddly heroic of you, Brother.” Thor said with a smile, sitting down next to Loki on the bed and leaning over to watch his brother combat the internet trolls. 

Loki rolled his eyes. “Of course not.” He said and handed the tablet to his brother. Thor’s eyes widened as he scrolled through the page. 

“This is you?” He asked, gesturing to a name associated with a fair number of posts, Silvertongue with an unfortunate number of zeros before the one. It seemed that many had taken up his moniker before Loki had been introduced to the wonders of the internet. He hadn’t had the time or opportunity to take care of them appropriately. Loki nodded in confirmation, fighting the smile that wanted to dawn on his face. Thor nodded and continued scrolling. 

“Really Loki, denigrating my manhood? Could you not have come up with something more original?” Thor asked. 

“Why mess with success? You’ve been keeping me in my place the same way for centuries.” Loki muttered the second part softly enough that it would seem as if he hadn’t meant Thor to hear, but of course he had. 

Thor, for his part, did not engage, which made Loki that much angrier. He wanted to rail at his brother for being so disregarding, but Thor’s face as he scrolled through the Avengers fan page was intent, not dismissive. He probably hadn’t even heard, which may have been worse. Loki sighed, maybe Thor had the right idea. What did he hope to accomplish by raking up past slights? 

“You seem to post quite a lot about me, Loki.” Thor mumbled, still immersed in reading. 

“Well I have to make sure your fans don’t have any misconceptions about your character.” Loki said, and Thor snorted. “You know, there’s a whole section on this site for supervillians? I have quite a few fans myself from my last time here. A little odd actually considering I was far from at my best both aesthetically and from a character standpoint.” It was actually a little concerning how many women professed the desire to kneel before him. More concerning was how he wasn’t the least bit tempted to take them up on it, the blame for which he could lay squarely on Stark’s, admittedly handsome, shoulders. 

“But not entirely surprising, Loki.” Thor said and gave him a blazing smile, stupid oaf. Then it was back to the frown. “You haven’t been posting like this about the other Avengers have you?” Thor started pressing links to get to the other Avenger’s pages and Loki quickly took the tablet back from him. 

“Of course not!” He said quickly. “I actually like Banner and the other Avengers are beneath my notice.” Or would be once he could manage to go more than an hour without picturing a certain one naked. Oh, Loki had it so bad. 

“I’m glad that you have befriended Banner, but you do know that with Thanos as an outstanding threat, we will likely have to work with them all at some point.” 

“You will have to work with them at some point, Brother. If I am to stay out of the notice of both Thanos and the Avengers, I should probably be far away by that point.” Though the idea of running away seemed less tempting than it had before. The idea of the fight carrying on here on Earth and Loki having no knowledge or control of the outcome was disconcerting to say the least. 

“You would leave us to face Thanos; not fight with us? With me?” Thor gave him that pathetic puppy dog look that should have been at least half as effective with only one eye, but it wasn’t. He wouldn’t give in that easily though, at least not outwardly. 

“I guess you’ll just have to see.” Loki responded instead. “Did you have a reason for coming or did you just want to bother me?” 

“I was curious as to why you changed your shape again before the meeting.” Thor started, once again taking Loki off guard. 

“I was back here in New Asgard. The shapechange was so that I could go elsewhere and not be recognized.” Loki said, once again intentionally misinterpreting what Thor was asking. 

“Yes, but you also said your feminine shape felt like you. I tried to remember when you took it up last and I’m certain it was centuries ago.” Thor paused, but Loki didn’t interrupt, curious as to where his brother was going with this. “We haven’t discussed it, but I know that the truth of your origin wasn’t the only reason behind, well, everything. You didn’t feel accepted.” Thor said, completely downplaying his own culpability, but Loki resolved to hear him out first. 

Thor continued, “I don’t want you to feel like that ever again. You should wear whatever shape makes you happy, female or frost...” 

“Let me stop you right there,” Loki held up a hand. “Your words are all well and good, but me walking around as a frost giant would help no one.” Loki shuddered at the thought. 

“That was just an example, though you have nothing to be ashamed of, you are still my brother.” Thor said earnestly. 

“Easy for you to say,” Loki muttered, at Thor’s wounded look he sighed. “I do appreciate your words, but they are just that, words. I don’t believe you truly know how even you would react if you walked into your office and saw a frost giant standing there, runt or no. As for any other shapes I may desire to take, you appear to be conveniently forgetting that I deceived these people for years by using my shapeshifting abilities to pretend to be Odin. I'm not going to remind anyone of that if I can avoid it, so you are stuck with this particular brother for now.” Loki finished, deciding at the last moment to lighten the mood a bit. It wasn’t Thor’s fault, entirely, he was trying. 

Thor nodded, but was staring at his hands. “I hope you will give my words some thought.” 

Sensing the conversation was over, Thor got up from the bed and walked out the door. Loki got back to the page he had been on before Thor walked in, the one about a certain Iron Man. He was just starting to get into the details when Thor popped his head back in, startling Loki enough that he jumped. 

“Maybe you might want to stop trolling my fans and familiarize yourself with how we are going to run our technology on Midgardian power like you promised. Good night, Brother!” Then Thor made his cheerful exit. Since Loki knew that Thor couldn’t see he made a rude gesture towards the door, but he was smiling. Just because Thor was his older brother and King did not mean that he ruled Loki. 

The next three days were indescribably uneventful. The only mischief Loki could even think to wreak was teleporting onto Thor’s bed at 3am as payback for Thor being in his room uninvited. Even that didn’t have his usual flair. Thor’s surprised yell was satisfying enough, though. At one point Valkyrie, Valkyrie of all people, asked if he was feeling ok. It was pathetic. 

He did everything he could think of to get his mind off Stark. He even did all of the energy research he had promised. His frustration at finding no clear answers only added to the discontent he was feeling. Finally, he decided to give in to the madness and just immerse himself in as much knowledge about Tony Stark as possible. 

Getting information was so much easier on Earth. The internet was a wonderful resource, far more nimble than a library. Plus, it was practically effortless when you could skip all the searches and coding and hacking that Midgarders had to do to obtain the secret knowledge and just use magic. Loki found some of the most interesting data from what was left of SHIELD. The organization had taken a distinct downturn since Loki’s last time here. It was fascinating to see that the agent he thought he had killed, Coulson, was actually very much alive. He made a mental note to tell Thor at some point. 

Hacking into SHIELD led him to other, less savory, organizations. He was intrigued to find many that were specifically opposed to Superheroes, and for many different reasons. Some, like Hydra, were opposed to the heroes because they believed they should have control over the events of the world. Others, like AIM, seemed to be against the heroes because they prevented them from selling their technology to supervillians. 

Loki magic-ed his way onto AIMs private server, curious for any references to Tony Stark, considering the organization’s focus on technology. As he meandered around the typical information on Iron Man he had seen elsewhere, he stumbled upon a date and time. More specifically, today’s date and a time that was just under an hour from now. Loki’s fingers flew, what could this be and what did it have to do with Tony Stark?


	4. O Villain, Villain, Smiling Damned Villain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, but it's a bit of a doozy. I'll post the next in a day or two to make up for it.

Tony Stark was in his shop. He was tinkering with what he always did when some other problem was bugging him. He had come up with the idea for this magic stopping device almost six years ago now, when a bat-shit crazy Norse god showed up and broke New York. What Tony had taken from that particular encounter was that magic wasn’t just a thing in Tolkien anymore. It was somehow real and very different from the science he had engrossed himself in his entire life. All his encounters with the crazy magic stones and the Scarlett Witch, had only solidified the need to be able to combat this weird energy he didn’t understand. Unfortunately, because he really didn’t understand it, he could never get the stupid device to work. So, it was his constant backburner project, the one he went to when he didn’t have the mental capacity to work on something that would actually do anything. 

Tony really didn’t like that it was four days and he was still thinking about a woman. The chick who went by the name Angelica Engison wasn’t even real. That name wasn’t anywhere he could find, and if he couldn’t find it, it wasn’t there in the first place. Facial recognition had picked the woman up the day before the party at several shops and the day of at a salon, but that was it. That woman had not existed six days ago. 

Even knowing it was a bust, Tony had gone through every picture of every royal on the planet and there was no one even close. The only thing Tony could think of was prosthetics, but he had his hands, and lips, all over that face. He would have noticed anything fake, right? So, with that idea struck down, the only explanation left was the go-to non-explanation, magic. Hence the working on the anti-magic device. He had no idea who, or what, would want to get to him this way but it couldn’t be good. 

But what had she hoped to accomplish? He had gone over the video footage more times than he cared to admit, there was nothing Angelica had done that was out of the ordinary. The only time she had been anywhere but at Tony’s side had been when she had left; all she had done then was collect her clothes and get dressed. Unless, again, she had done something magical, like put a love spell on Tony so he couldn’t get her out of his damn mind. But if there was anything Tony had learned from Reindeer Games and Wanda it was that magic always had some sort of visual tell. Green-gold for the crazy helmet dude, red for Wanda. So, he was officially out of hypotheses with no answer in sight. It was an unusual situation for Tony and he really hated the feeling. 

Tony just couldn’t reconcile ulterior motives with that haughty demeanor, with huskily singing along to Tony’s favorite band just to get him to dance, with that pleased look when she finally had him. Sure, he’d been with a lot of actresses but none of them had been that talented. None of them had left any impression once the heat had gone from the bed in the morning. But Angelica? He could still hear her voice clearly, smell her hair, feel her skin. Damn it. 

He was fiddling with the energy scanners when a tell-tale feeling prickled the back of his neck. He was being watched. It wasn’t anything like Peter’s Spider-sense. It was just the cool certainty of experience. Somebody was in his workshop and had bypassed FRIDAYs sensors. For a moment, a pair of sparkling green eyes came to mind, but somehow, he doubted this was Angelica. Tony leaned down casually under his desk, trying not to startle whoever it was. Of course, it was all a ruse to grab one of his repulsors out of his desk drawer. It wasn’t even a second afterwards that he heard a soft click, a mechanical exhalation of air and a thunk into the wall just about where his head had been. A silenced weapon, now he really hoped that it wasn’t Angelica. 

Tony dropped off the chair as gracefully as possible, still skinning his knees, of course. As he crouched on the floor, he put the repulsor on his hand and shot at the source of the bullet. He heard a thunk as a body dropped, and the clank of metal as something very hard hit something less hard. That couldn’t have felt good. He quickly tapped his arc reactor to start the armor flowing over his limbs. He really needed to design the process so his helmet wasn’t last. No point in armor if the bad guys could just shoot him in the head first. It was ill-advised, but when he didn’t hear any further movement, he cautiously popped his head over the desk sans helmet. 

“Down, Stark!” Came a shout from behind him, followed by the dull smacking sound of skin connecting in combat. He peeked under the desk to see who spoke, but he just saw a body dressed in black-ops style gear and a pair of distinctly non-terrestrial boots. Now covered in his armor, Tony stood up to address his rescuer, just in time to almost get clocked by that boot traveling across the workspace. His ally, the rest of whose garb also was most certainly not from Earth, slid across Tony’s desk to launch at the two additional men entering the shop. 

Tony could have fired his repulsors, but he just stood there staring like a noob. Faster than he would have thought possible, this guy, long hair aside it was definitely a dude, threw a blue-hilted dagger straight into the neck of the guy on the right while simultaneously blocking the gunfire from the other with some sort of greenish-gold energy field. Oh shit. 

The alien, who could not possibly be Loki because that was absurd, waited for the man to stop firing on him before jumping behind him and snapping his neck with a smooth motion that looked terrifyingly easy. It seemed that one of his attackers was late to the party because he decided to enter just as his buddy’s spine snapped. With possibly even less effort, since it wasn’t physical, the magician, who he would not call Loki so help him, just tossed a ball of green fire at the guy. It burned far hotter than any blaze Tony could have whipped up because the guy wasn’t even there after a few seconds. Just a pile of ash. 

When the last attacker was down, not-Loki did a full turn, hand up in the air either scanning for lifeforms or something else ridiculously magic-y before relaxing. Unfortunately, the slow spin gave Tony a very good view of his rescuer. The man shook the tension out of his body with a few quick stretches before addressing Tony. 

“You can come out of the armor, Stark. They only sent five.” It was definitely Loki. The voice was the same, the face was, mostly, the same, but everything else was different. Not just his clothing and his hair, though those changes were for the better to be sure. Even after fighting and killing four people in the span of moments, there wasn’t the manic destroy-everything gleam to his features that Tony had come to fear. All told, he looked calm, confident, really good actually. Which was possibly even more suspicious since the guy was supposed to be dead. 

“Actually, I think I am fine just like this, Bag of Cats.” Tony said. Loki just blinked at him a few times, obviously flummoxed. Tony experienced a momentary bit of glee at catching the guy off guard. But then he realized a surprised Loki was probably a murderous Loki, maybe he should turn down the snark. As if it was voluntary. 

“I’m going to assume that is a reference to my previous insanity, though I do not understand it.” Loki responded, seemingly not at all offended. Weird. The guy had been crazy touchy last time. 

The god took a few steps towards Tony. He was still most of the way across the room, but that extra bit of closeness prickled at the back of Tony’s neck. He could practically feel how much taller the madman was. Also, he definitely looked more buff than the last time. Not Thor buff of course, but when you combined Asgardian strength, intimidating nonetheless. 

Ignoring the god’s question since it hadn’t been phrased as one, Tony spoke. “Are you trying to pretend you aren’t still crazy? Because you did just teleport into my shop and kill four people in minutes.” 

“Four people who were trying to kill you.” Loki retorted, also ignoring Tony’s question. Well this conversation was going nowhere fast. “I mean you no harm, Stark. Quite the opposite in fact.” Loki gestured to the bodies. 

“Yeah, but you seem like the ‘if I can’t kill him, no one can’ type. How do I know you aren’t about to throw me out a window again?” Tony asked completely honestly. Every muscle in his body was telling him to run. Even with the armor he was woefully outmatched against a magically inclined Asgardian. Last time it had taken the Hulk to even make a dent in that pretty face of his and Bruce was miles away. 

Loki raised an eyebrow. “You really do need to get over that eventually, Stark. You are alive, aren’t you?” 

While the comment was infuriating to the extreme, that wasn’t what struck Tony most about it. It was spoken with a fondness that seemed completely disproportionate to the situation. Loki said it as if it had been something they as friends had bickered about many times previously. Tony was momentarily speechless, sputtering a bit as he tried to put into words how very wrong this whole conversation was. Yep, the guy was still nuts, but a whole new kind of nuts. Tony wasn’t sure which he preferred. 

Loki, for his part, seemed to catch on to Tony’s mood as his smile fell just a bit and he looked uncertain. In fact, he looked like he was just shy of squirming uncomfortably. It was a weird look on the god; it somehow made him look younger. Not innocent, certainly, but definitely not old and powerful. It did nothing to dim Tony’s ire, though. 

“Where the fuck do you get off telling me to get over someone trying to murder me? And not just someone, you.” Tony spat, and Loki actually took a step back from the heat in his words. “I don’t know if this is some psychopath thing, murder attempts leading to lasting friendships, but it’s not going to work on me.” 

“Stark, I...” Loki started, looking chastened weirdly enough. He started picking at his left hand, a nervous gesture? But Tony wasn’t finished. 

“No, supervillians don’t get to talk. You did enough of that last time. I don’t know what kind of evil plan you have brewing with this whole coming back from the dead thing. Hey, does Thor know you’re alive?” The thought interrupted Tony’s rant. Loki cringed a bit but otherwise didn’t say anything. Not that Tony should have expected him to. “Anyways, what does it matter? Either way, you are back from the dead. If you have some evil scheme to pull off and you are looking to get Iron Man off your back by saving my life or something idiotic like that, think again. It doesn’t work like that.” 

Loki seemed to get a bit of his mojo back and snorted. “Evil scheme?” 

What in the hell was up with this guy? Was he really trying to claim he wasn’t insane when he was treating everything he had done as a complete joke? The lives he had taken, the Chitauri had taken, the damage he had done. Coulson damn it. Tony could clearly remember the panic attacks; didn’t have to remember the nightmares about falling from space, falling from the tower, as those re-visited him a few times a year. 

“Yes, evil scheme, Reindeer Games. You know, like trying to take over the world and massacring people to make it happen?” More flinching. The psycho guy’s words and actions were just not meshing, and it was making Tony feel a bit crazy-pants himself. “You are a murderer, and all that mind control crap makes you straight up evil. It’s my job to protect the world from people like you even despite one very suspect good deed. Does that make sense?” 

Loki’s face went completely blank. It was actually really unnerving to watch. It was as if all the feeling that was previously there just washed away leaving only an empty shell behind. Light died out of those sage green eyes. It wasn’t something Tony would have thought the god capable of the last time he was here. If anything, the guy had been brimming with too much emotion. 

“Quite.” Loki said, and his voice was as dead as his face. Tony suppressed a shiver. Yep, he had finally done it. He had mouthed off one too many times and now he was dead. Loki’s next words were probably the very last he had expected to hear. “I apologize for disturbing you, Stark. It will not happen again.” 

Just like that Loki was gone, popped into thin air. The science part of his brain noted two things: he hadn’t realized Loki could just teleport to different locations. How did they manage to keep him captured when he could do that? Also, there had been no green-gold energy to accompany that bit of magic. The implications were disturbing to say the least. 

Also disturbing was the fact that he was pretty sure he had hurt Loki’s feelings. And now that the god was no longer in the room with him giving him falling flashbacks, Tony kinda felt bad. Intentions aside, the man had fought attackers looking to kill Tony; what had he done to repay the guy? Yelled at him. Called him evil, something Tony wasn’t entirely sure about in the first place. Tony was either more insane than the god had ever been or an idiot. Probably both. He looked around at the mess that had been made of his workshop, complete with five dead bodies. He needed a drink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This physically hurt me to write...


	5. These Be but the Trappings and the Suits of Woe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was originally going to wait another day to post this chapter but with the overwhelmingly sad comments I just had to give you more as quickly as possible. 
> 
> The beginning of this chapter was inspired by a Bland Marvel Headcannon that intrigued me. If you haven't seen them look them up on Pinterest or Tumblr, they're a hoot.

It was exhausting making his way through the corridors. Of course, Thor would have to be on the entire other side of the building right now. Loki trotted quickly, just this shy of running until he got to the storeroom where Thor had taken it upon himself to do some inventory. 

When Loki found the storeroom, the door was wide open. Thor was sitting on the ground, cross-legged, with a clipboard in hand, biting the pencil he held in concentration just as he had always done during tests in their youth. Loki couldn’t help but be impressed by how seriously Thor was taking ruling. While they were still working on the concept of delegation, it was rather endearing that Thor was willing to do any task, big or small, to help. 

What was more, he actually listened to Loki. Sure, there was distrust, but he never dismissed any of his brother’s advice out of hand. He heeded Loki’s words far more now after everything that had happened between them than he had before when his distrust of Loki was due to minor tricks and selfishness. 

But this form did not want to think about these things. There was a reason he was here, and it wasn’t to admire his brother. Seeing that no one was around, Loki padded in and jumped right into Thor’s lap. Thor startled, tossing the clipboard, but when he caught sight of what had assaulted him, he smiled. 

“What a beautiful kitty,” Thor exclaimed, running a tentative hand down Loki’s back. Loki shivered at the sensation, rubbing his black furred head against Thor’s hand. Thor scratched very satisfyingly behind his ears before speaking again. 

“You know, you remind me a bit of my little brother.” Thor said, looking into Loki’s yellow-green eyes. “He doesn’t appear to be around today, though between you and me, even if he was he’d never let me hug him. So, I think I will bestow all of the affection that he will not allow me on you today. How would you like that, kitty?” 

Loki meowed his enthusiastic agreement to this plan and butted his head against Thor’s hand for more pets. Thor grinned and used his other hand to pick up the clipboard and then the pencil and went back to counting, this time absentmindedly petting Loki instead of biting his writing implement. 

This wasn’t a new game. Loki had always considered himself to be extremely independent. He had also always had a discomfort with physical displays of affection, outside the bedroom at least. But sometimes, even he felt the need for comfort and touch. Like when a certain mortal... nope, this was about relaxation. So, Loki would take the form of a cat. The cat’s personality and instincts suited him well. They were independent and allusive, but still maintained the desire for closeness and petting from those they held in esteem. 

In cat form, Loki would find Thor who would promptly adopt the pet and loudly assert that this could not possibly be his brother, but he would love him just the same. Then Loki would spend the entire day with Thor. Lounging on his lap while he studied, when Thor actually got around to it, or sprawled across a bench in the training yards, grabbing head scratches and belly rubs between bouts. The next day Loki would be himself again and everything would go back to normal. They had an unspoken agreement to never discuss it. 

Thor ran his fingers down Loki’s spine, stopping to scratch at that insanely pleasurable spot right at the base of Loki’s tail. Loki arched up, purring even louder and Thor chuckled. It had been a long time since they had done this, easily a century. It was little things like this that Loki wished one of them had noticed was missing. Maybe they could have stopped it all from going wrong. 

Loki cursed his brain. Why did it need to always go to the macabre? Why couldn’t he just enjoy the moment? Thor certainly was capable. Then again, it was much easier when you only had a few brain cells to rub together. But the hand on his back had stopped moving at some point and Loki looked up at Thor. He too appeared pensive, he was staring at Loki with a sad smile now. 

“I missed you.” Thor said. Loki meowed his annoyance and shook his head. This was not how they did this. This was a cat, this was not his brother. Thor sighed, and Loki felt a little guilty. He had never been a particularly good brother, this forcing Thor into holding his effusive displays of affection at bay until Loki was willing to receive them, and only then as a feline. 

For a moment, Loki considered shifting back to himself, maybe pulling Thor in for a hug, but he decided against it. He needed this right now. He needed a brain that tended towards less complicated thoughts. He needed to lose himself in the petting and napping and just not being Loki for a day. So instead he placed his front paws on Thor’s chest plate and rubbed his cheek up on Thor’s face. Thor huffed another small laugh and rubbed his beard into Loki’s nose. 

Loki pulled back with a disdainful look and sneezed. That made Thor really lose it. He laughed and laughed and it seemed like he couldn’t stop. Loki played at indignation, but he was secretly pleased. 

“All right kitty, you sit here and help distract me from how very boring this is.” 

 

'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'

 

But Loki couldn’t hide forever, not from himself at least. He could certainly try though. He was back to his usual shape but holed up in his room. One of the first things he had learned as a shapeshifter was that it was dangerous to stay in animal form too long. It was too easy to lose yourself in the instincts of the beast, especially if you weren’t balanced yourself. Loki hadn’t been what anyone would call emotionally stable in a long time. 

He was not moping, precisely. He was contemplating. He was trying to understand why his interaction with Stark had gone so differently this time compared to the last time. He was well aware that he shouldn’t have made light of the defenestration incident; it had been far too early for that. It had been a pure slip of the tongue. A moment of weakness where he had said what came to mind immediately, rather than thinking it through, like he had come to enjoy with Stark. Actually, it was rather like Stark himself did. Still, the heat, the venom of Stark’s response had surprised Loki. 

He didn’t quite understand why this had been so much different than the other timeline. Stark hadn’t shown nearly this much ire the last time they were re-acquainted. Sure, he hadn’t had Banner to vouch for him, but this time he had been saving the ungrateful wretch’s life. Actually, now that Loki thought about it, being alone in a room where a god who had tried to kill you a few years earlier had just killed four men, after teleporting in without being invited, might have been a bit intimidating, even frightening. Last time Stark had three empowered allies around him; he had felt safe to run his mouth. 

“Loki?” There was no knock, just Thor’s unusually hesitant voice. He wasn’t sure Loki was in here, so the trickster wasn’t going to give him any information otherwise. 

“Loki, I know you are in there.” Thor’s voice was much less hesitant this time. 

Bullshit, you would have knocked, Loki thought as he remained silent. He didn’t feel like Stark and him being alone together answered the whole question. Stark wasn’t one for intimidation. Hel, Tony had talked back to Cull Obsidian, and when it came to sheer threat, Loki had nothing on that member of the Black Order. 

“Loki, I’m just checking to see if you are ok.” Thor said, a hint of whine in his tone. Loki rolled his eyes. Thor had to suspect something was up, given Loki’s cat form yesterday. Why he was surprised by this was anybody’s guess. Loki certainly wasn’t going to hold his big brother’s hand as he tried to work it out. Now if he could just get someone’s help figuring Stark out, that would be something. 

“Fine, stay in your room and pout. Brat.” Thor huffed, and Loki heard his footsteps trail away. Pout? Brat! Loki was halfway out of his bed when he realized that was exactly what Thor wanted. That actually made him smile a bit, but he wasn’t going to take the bait. 

The next day was no different. Loki pondered, not pouted thank you very much. He had determined that the reason for Stark’s behavior, beyond their solitude, was a matter of circumstances. Last time, Stark was motivated to trust Loki. Loki had Banner’s testimony as well as the knowledge needed to fight Thanos. Stark wanted to trust Loki and that had led to a tentative alliance. This Stark had no motivations for trusting Loki, no reason to. Yes, Loki had killed for him, but Stark had no idea why. And there hadn’t been a continued threat that required them to work together. 

So, Loki was fairly sure that he had no real possibility of a friendship with Stark. Once Thanos came around again, hopefully a very long time from now, they could possibly work together. But there would be nothing until then. Which was perfectly fine. It was exactly what Loki had planned anyways. He had never intended to see Stark as himself, circumstances had just forced his hand. If he had taken the time to think it through, he could have shapeshifted into someone Stark didn’t know. But in that moment of pure panic when he realized what AIM was up to and how little time he had, he had reacted. 

Stark was safe now and Loki was fine. He could go back to helping rebuild New Asgard. He could certainly go forever without allowing himself to think on that word Stark had said to him. That nagging little four-letter word that was threatening to eat through his skull. 

Thor knocked this time. “Loki, I know you are in here.” Well of course he was. Where else would he be if he was missing for two days? Not that Loki was going to make this easy on him. 

Thor tried the knob of the door, of course it was locked. Loki may be... his brain stuttered over the thought. No, he wasn’t going there. He definitely was not an idiot, no matter what he may otherwise be. 

“Loki, I will break down this door if you don’t let me in.” Thor growled. 

“I wouldn’t. I’ve never tried this particular spell before. I can’t guarantee its effects won't be lethal.” Loki called after a sigh. 

There was silence on the other side of the door as Thor debated the merit of breaking it down anyways. Apparently, desire to see his brother won out because the next moment Loki was staring at Thor, standing in his doorway, eyes closed, wincing against the possible spell. When several minutes passed by and nothing happened, Thor opened his eyes cautiously. He patted himself down and seeing that nothing was wrong, grinned at Loki. 

“Liar,” Thor said fondly. 

“Well, of course! Killing my brother is one thing, but I’m not going to kill the King of New Asgard. Especially when I have nowhere else to go.” Loki muttered the last bit darkly. 

“Why do you persist in saying things that you don’t mean?” Thor asked with a sigh. 

“I always mean what I say; I just never say what I mean.” Loki responded. Thor spent a good few minutes brow furrowed trying to ponder out the meaning of that statement. Loki finally took pity on him and changed the subject. 

“What do you want, Brother? I’m busy.” Loki asked. Thor looked around at the bed Loki was currently occupying without even a book to distract him from his dark thoughts. 

“Busy,” Thor repeated doubtfully. 

“Some of us don’t need outside distractions from our thoughts. Remember the energy issue I have been tasked with? I’ve trawled through the Midgardian’s hopeless scraps of information enough.” 

Despite Loki’s obviously dismissive tone when speaking of Thor’s pet mortals, Thor beamed at him. It was odd, even for the man who was prone to smiling easily. 

“Actually, that’s what I wanted to speak to you about. I have the perfect solution. Tony Stark is on his way out here to help us.” Thor said. Loki’s stomach fell. Thor continued, oblivious to his brother’s distress. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before with all his work with the Tesseract. I’m sure he will come up with a solution presently. He is a genius, you know.” 

“Yes, I know.” Loki said dully. Stark was too damned smart, too observant. That was the problem. 

Finally catching Loki’s tone, Thor frowned. “I didn’t mean to imply that you weren’t, Brother. I just knew that you were having trouble and wanted to help.” 

“No, Thor, it’s not the worst idea you’ve ever had. But did you think about the fact that we don’t want anyone to know I’m here? Especially an Avenger? Particularly an Avenger who likely has a grudge as I did try to kill him personally?” 

Thor frowned, he obviously hadn’t. When he looked proud suddenly, Loki had a feeling he knew where this was going. 

“You can just take on your feminine form, Loki. That way you could still work together, and he wouldn’t know.” 

“So, you would be ok with my tricking one of your shield brothers?” Loki asked suspiciously. Not that he was going to, of course. Norns knew how that would go over. 

“Well, it isn’t ideal, but it’s better than the alternative.” Thor allowed. 

“When will Stark be arriving?” Loki asked. 

“Tomorrow,” Thor said, obviously suspicious of Loki suddenly dropping his arguments. 

“I’ll be ready,” Loki said and gave his brother a smile. 

Thor nodded hesitantly and turned to leave. Just as he got to the doorway he turned. “Are you sure you’re ok, Brother?” 

“Thor,” Loki said with complete honesty. “Not even I know the answer to that question.” 

Thor frowned, but he knew well enough to leave that comment alone, and he left altogether. 

Stark was coming here. Loki would be ready, alright. He would be prepared to be nowhere near the man the entire time he was in New Asgard. It would slow their progress certainly. No one knew more about their power necessities and how they interacted with Midgardian technology than Loki, but Heimdall could muddle through well enough. 

Loki wasn’t sure how he would face Stark in the months or years it would take Thanos to get to Earth. He certainly couldn’t do so now. Not with their previous conversation so fresh. Not with that word still ringing in his ears. 

Evil. It wasn’t all that different from monster when you looked at it. Loki had thought he had resigned himself to his monstrous nature long ago. But hearing that word? From that man? It had struck Loki to the core. He wasn’t entirely sure if he was evil; he did know that he had evil thoughts, evil desires. He had even had a time in his life when he acted upon them. But he was trying so hard to ignore that dark whispering in his mind. The one that had wanted to choke Stark until he couldn’t utter hateful words ever again. He supposed that made him evil. 

What was he doing here? It wasn’t the first time Loki had thought this, it wouldn’t be the last. This wasn’t him. This rebuilding, this teamwork, this waiting around for Thanos so that Loki could stop him and be a hero. But he couldn’t seem to make himself leave. That oaf of a brother of his needed something and Loki couldn’t seem to say no. Well actually he said no all the time, but never when it really counted. 

No, he would stay. He would stay, and he would accept that he would never have Stark, not now that he knew exactly what Stark thought of him. Part of him just wished he knew if this was a new factor of this current timeline or if those feelings had been bubbling below the surface of Stark’s regard the last time. But it didn’t matter. The real question was, would Loki be able to stay when Stark was here and just happened to mention to Thor that he had been saved from assault by his very not-dead, not-shapechanged little brother?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so this didn't exactly resolve the sad, but I do love getting some good Thor and Loki in there. 
> 
> The plot thickens...


	6. Something is Rotten in the State of Denmark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BTW just so you know I haven't read any of the comics so if I do anything out of character or say anything wrong when it comes to AIM, please forgive me. I normally don't delve into the comic universe for that reason, but I was looking for a shady organization that wasn't Hydra (since I really didn't have time to get into that) and wasn't made up so that I had to explain everything. I read about AIM on a Marvel wiki and they met my purposes perfectly.

Tony wasn’t even half paying attention to the words on his tablet. He was currently on his plane, scotch in the cupholder, just hours from Norway and New Asgard. He had wanted something to distract him from his thoughts, but even his anti-magic device, and he really needed to come up with a better name for it than that, wasn’t working for him. He had actually made substantial progress on the invention in the last few days. It had turned out that he had left the scanners going when Loki had done his whole magic routine. That had given him some very interesting data to immerse himself in. 

That was, after he had taken care of AIM. As it turned out, sending assassins after him had been just the motivation Tony needed to hack into their systems. It was tricky as hell and took him far longer than he’d admit to anyone. He hadn’t known offhand why they were suddenly moving against them, he hadn’t had dealings with them in years. Once he was in their system, though. Jackpot. 

As it turned out, he hadn’t been the target at all. Their real target had been FRIDAY. No big surprise there. They had been after JARVIS for years and while FRIDAY wasn’t quite up to his level, she was still young after all and had a lot to learn, in other ways she was even more advanced. They had learned enough to disable her sensors, which was concerning in itself. Once Tony had all this information, it had been short work to plant a little virus, just a little anonymous love letter and beef up his own security. Then it was on to the anti-magic device. 

Then Thor called, and his brain short-circuited. It wasn’t the speaking to Thor that did it though. He hadn’t talked to the guy since he had returned to Earth. Tony felt bad about that actually. When Thor had arrived, Tony had been busy at a conference in Japan. Then Bruce had come by and Tony had been sucked into that happy reunion. He kept meaning to call the god but had never really gotten around to it. 

When he heard Thor’s voice on the other side of that phone, he had first been awash in guilt. For not welcoming the guy back to Earth, for not offering his assistance sooner, oh and for not mentioning that he had seen his batshit little brother alive and kicking, literally. It hadn’t been until he had already agreed to come out and lend his fantastic brain to their energy problem and hung up the phone that it hit him. 

Thor’s voice. Loki’s voice. Asgardian’s had a particular accent. Once that was very British sounding, but not. One that was shared by a particular woman he had been desperate to find who it appeared did not exactly exist in any information on Earth. Angelica Engison was Asgardian. All the weirdness was explained. Well, almost all the weirdness. He still had no idea what some random Asgardian had wanted with him specifically, but now he was just itching to get there and find her. 

Angelica Engison was definitely a pseudonym. Angelica seemed like too common a name for a place where Odin, Thor & Loki were the names of their royalty. Engison fit, but a quick search showed that as a woman she should have been someone’s-dottir. But again, it seemed that this was a way to have her name more appropriately fit what he would expect from an Earth name. A little more research showed that Engi actually meant No-one in Norse. There was something to that, Tony was sure, but he wouldn’t know what until he met the girl in person. 

By the time his plane touched down, two glasses of scotch hadn’t been enough to settle Tony’s nerves. He was practically vibrating with excitement when he met up with Thor. Bruce had told Tony the story of what had happened on Sakaar and Asgard, but seeing Thor in person was quite a sight nonetheless. The God of Thunder was still as large and intimidating as Tony remembered. He was wearing darker armor, but still had that red cape of his. His hair was buzzed short with some interesting patterns shaved into the sides that Tony wasn’t sure were intentional. It looked really good, certainly more intimidating than the long blonde locks Thor had been sporting; Tony felt like he probably shouldn’t say that though. To top off the grizzled look, Thor had a black patch over his right eye. It should have made him look like a ridiculous, wannabe pirate, but the Asgardian definitely pulled it off. 

“Point Break! Buddy! Looking good.” Tony called, and Thor swept him up into a manly, one armed hug that still felt like he could break the inventor in two. Tony patted the guy’s back and tried to breathe. 

“Stark! You too are looking well.” Thor smiled at him and there was the guilt again. Thor calling Tony ‘Stark’, sounding just like the brother that Tony had no idea if Thor knew was alive. Yeah, this visit was going to go so well. But how the hell could Tony bring it up when he probably should have called Thor the minute Loki left? Why hadn’t he, again? Oh yeah, a completely different guilt. Ugh. 

“Point me to the problem, big guy. I’m looking forward to a good challenge.” Tony said, and Thor led him inside and to his office. Tony chuckled a bit at the warrior having an office. It still didn’t quite compute with the billionaire that Thor was now King. He was in charge of all these people. 

There was a man waiting in the office when they got there. He was crazy tall like all Asgardians unfairly seemed to be, but even taller than Thor at that. He was also very dark skinned, which was unusual and something Tony hadn’t even considered. The dark skin contrasted amazingly with his light, golden eyes. They seriously seemed to see into your very soul. It was disconcerting to say the least. 

“Heimdall, this is Tony Stark, one of my shield brothers here on Earth.” Thor said, and Tony really liked the sound of ‘Shield Brother’. “Tony Stark, this is Heimdall, former Gatekeeper of Asgard and member of my council here on New Asgard.” 

Tony gave the stern guy a bit of a salute, suddenly feeling like a nickname would be just shy of heresy. “So, are you the one helping me out with this little project?” He asked Heimdall. 

Heimdall frowned and shook his head but said nothing. Thor spoke instead. 

“We’ve actually had an...” Thor paused for a moment as if he was trying to come up with a word Tony would understand. “Asgardian sorceress working on the problem until we determined that we would need help from someone who understood your technology far better than we could. Naturally, I thought of you. She was supposed to be here to meet you.” Thor looked over at Heimdall in question, but the man shook his head solemnly. Tony suddenly wondered if the man ever spoke. “But it looks like she is...otherwise occupied.” 

Tony got that tingle at the nape of his neck that usually meant that he was on to something. An Asgardian sorceress who was avoiding meeting Tony? This couldn’t possibly be anyone else. Suddenly the Princess conversation came to mind. 

“Do you have a sister?” Tony asked Thor suddenly. Thor started and gave Tony a look that the inventor couldn’t quite interpret. It was hesitant, certainly. 

“I thought Banner had told you.” Thor started. Oh yeah, the goddess of death. The sister Thor hadn’t known about that had required them burning Asgard to the ground. Tony winced, yeah, he probably should have remembered that before saying anything. 

“Oh, yeah, I meant other than her.” Tony said awkwardly. 

“No,” Thor said, but he drew out the word curiously, obviously wondering where Stark was going with this. He looked closed off; it was a weird disparity to his normal open and friendly gaze. 

“Ah, so just the crazy ones then. Shame.” Tony said, looking closely at Thor’s reaction to the slight mention of his little brother. Thor’s closed off look didn’t waver. He just nodded and now Tony was feeling really uncomfortable. “So, do we wait on this chick or what?” 

“If Heimdall can’t see her, she doesn’t want to be found.” Thor said frowning and what the hell did that mean? “I guess she was not as concerned about this meeting as I had thought. Heimdall, would you be able to help Tony?” 

“I can, your majesty.” Heimdall intoned in a crazy deep voice. He speaks! Thor nodded, brightening a bit. 

“Heimdall will help you with whatever you need. If there’s anything you wish from me, he’ll be able to find me. I’ll go find somewhere that I am more useful, perhaps we can meet for lunch?” Thor said, looking eager to get out of the office and doing something. His hands were practically twitching with bound enthusiasm, quite like Tony got without something to work on, actually. Tony smiled and waved and now his brain was on work, on the task at hand. 

Tony had Heimdall start giving him the basics on Asgardian power generation as Tony unloaded the gear he had packed along. Tony nodded along to Heimdall’s explanation. For someone who apparently wasn’t the expert they were hoping for, Heimdall seemed pretty damn knowledgeable. Tony asked if they had some actual tech for him to examine and Heimdall produced what appeared to be Asgard’s equivalent of a battery. Tony squeed like a kid in a candy store and got to examining. 

Tony’s brain was smack dab in the middle of understanding the new tech he had been blessed with, his mouth was on a whole different level. 

“So, what’s the deal with this ‘finding’ power you got?” Tony asked. 

“I don’t believe I understand your request.” Heimdall said in that low gravelly voice he had that just demanded you take him seriously. 

“Thor said if you couldn’t find this sorceress chick, she didn’t want to be found. Made it seem like it was your special power. Like Thor’s lightning or Loki’s craziness.” Tony peeked a sidelong look at Heimdall to see if there was a reaction to Loki’s name. Nothing. Damn it, did they teach these non-reactions in Asgardian school or something? 

“I suppose you could say that.” Heimdall said neutrally. “I have the ability to see throughout the realms. I cannot see everything at once, but all that I put my gaze to.” Heimdall said. 

“Well not all. You can’t find this chick.” Tony said, and did he detect the slightest frown? That was interesting. If mention of Thor’s brother who tried to take over both Asgard and Midgard caused no reaction but this chick did, that was definitely something. Then again, if Heimdall believed Loki to be dead and a non-threat that would explain a lack of reaction as well. 

“Very few people have the ability to hide from my sight. She is one of them.” Ooo, Tony practically shivered from the coldness in that tone. He really didn’t like that someone could hide from him. Tony was right, she was a troublemaker. But wait, his brain stuttered. If almost no one could fool Goldeneye, how would he not know Loki was alive? More baiting was obviously necessary. Fortunately, Tony was almost as good at that as he was at technology. 

“So, can all Asgardian’s do magic or just the special ones?” Tony asked. 

“Shouldn’t you be turning your attention to the task before you?” Heimdall asked, sounding for all the world like a parent losing his patience. 

“Trust me, I can do both. Plus, me knowing more about magic can only be helpful to solving your problem, right?” Heimdall nodded hesitantly, deferring to Tony’s logic. 

“No, not every Asgardian is born with the spark of magic inside them. Most that do are women and are trained to be healers. The strongest born often manifest specific talents according to their nature, such as Thor’s Lightning and my Sight.” Heimdal said. 

“So, Point Break could do more than the lightning if he wanted?” Tony asked, fascinated. 

“Technically, he has the ability but has not been trained so, no he couldn’t heal someone.” Heimdall said. 

“Why didn’t he get training? Seems like a King who could do more than call up some fire from the sky would be helpful.” 

“It would be...unseemly. Men don’t practice magic.” Heimdall answered, getting more impatient with the line of questioning. Well too bad because that answer was just, stupid. 

“Why not?” 

“Because it isn’t done. It’s tradition.” 

“So, then what was Loki’s talent? Cause he seemed to do a lot of different things magically speaking.” Things that seemed far more useful than just some lightning powers, but Tony wasn’t going to mention that. 

“Loki’s talent was mischief, chaos. He went against tradition, and the Allfather’s wishes, and studied magic in all its incarnations.” 

Heimdall didn’t look particularly disdainful about that, he was just relaying the facts. Tony really didn’t like the implications of those facts, though. He found himself siding with Loki, at least on this particular matter, and if that wasn’t just the darndest thing? If the guy was that powerful, why shouldn’t he do everything he could to utilize that power? Sure, he should have used that power for good rather than evil, but going against the system? That Tony could get behind. Tony could also sense the environment Loki would have dealt with, being different, doing something he wasn’t supposed to do just because it wasn’t done, not for any good reason. Nope, Tony was not identifying with the insane god, not at all. 

Tony just nodded. He did have a better understanding of Asgardian magic, but it didn’t bring him any closer to figuring out Loki’s unnoticed presence in the land of the living or finding Angelica. So, he went back to his primary focus on this battery and ran his mouth talking about things that didn’t require any of his attention. Next thing he knew, Heimdall was tapping his shoulder to get his full attention. 

“Our presence is requested in the dining hall for the mid-day meal.” Heimdall said. Lunchtime then. Tony generally didn’t like to stop to eat when he was in the middle of a project. He could sometimes go days without eating or sleeping if it was important. But he was a bit hungry and probably wasn’t good to piss off the King by ignoring him. Tony huffed a laugh at the idea of Thor being mad at something like that. Still, Tony followed Heimdall out of the office. 

Heimdall led Tony out of the building that housed Thor’s office, actually one of the smallest of the growing city which was interesting to note since it also served as the housing for Thor and his council. The hall they were headed to was far larger. They had to cross through and pass the construction of the school building, relatively small given that there were fewer than a hundred children. Tony felt an odd little pang in his heart thinking about that. 

It was slow going. Most people they passed stopped Heimdall with a word or a pat on the back. Tony tried to patient and not squirm as they stopped for when felt like the eightieth time, but he wasn’t very successful. Tony could tell Heimdall noticed, though he didn’t acknowledge it except that the corner of his mouth twitched in what was a slight smile. Finally, they made it into the hall and Heimdall led him inside. 

Well, hell. Tony wasn’t sure what he had expected when he was asked to have lunch with Thor, but it definitely wasn’t this. It seemed that a good portion of the surviving Asgardians were all eating together. Tony supposed it was probably easier to organize this way, but he hadn’t given this kind of thing much thought. The food was set up buffet style and Tony followed Heimdall over to grab a place. The food was simple: meats, root vegetables, and bread. It wasn’t nearly as scary as eating in some countries Tony had been to, odd since these people were technically aliens. 

Tony noted, when Heimdall led him to Thor, that the god wasn’t at the head of a high table, wasn’t on his own in his kingliness or with just his friends and advisors. Thor was seated on the bench of a table near the center, a few seats in from the end. Next to him was one of the few non-Asgardians, a dude who looked like he was literally made of rocks, which Tony was itching to find out more about. On his left was empty space obviously intended for Tony and Heimdall. 

Thor grinned at him as Tony sat down. With a mouth still half stuffed with bread, the king introduced Tony to: Korg, the rock guy, Miek, a small insect-looking dude that had been hidden behind Korg, Valkyrie, a seriously intimidating looking woman sitting across from Thor and Eir, an older serene woman in flowing white robes. Tony nodded at the aliens and gave the women his best grin before tucking in to his food. 

Tony pretended not to notice when Thor leaned behind him to speak to Heimdall. 

“Have you seen...?” Thor asked, voice trailing off. Ah, Angelica was still missing. Then Tony realized, her name was very likely not Angelica. He tried to think back to Heimdall and Thor’s earlier conversation, had they ever addressed her by name? Tony looked over in time to see Heimdall shake his head. Whelp, there was no time like the present. 

“What’s her name is still missing?” Tony asked looking over at Thor. The king was struck dumb. Contrary to what most would think looking at the musclebound blonde, Thor was anything but dumb. You don’t live more than one thousand years without picking up an epic amount of knowledge; but he was a man of action, he learned by doing. This question, however, had caught him completely off guard and he couldn’t seem to manage the nonreaction his brother and Heimdall could. As Thor gaped mutely at him, Tony looked at the people around them. All were one shade or another of uncomfortable. So, they all knew what had struck Thor mute, but Tony truly had no idea. 

“Brunnhilde!” Valkyrie finally said, actually she practically shouted it. “She was the one who was supposed to be helping you. She’s a bit inconsistent.” 

Thor nodded and looked relieved, really relieved. Tony was getting the feeling that everyone was hiding something from him, but hell if he knew why. He couldn’t imagine they knew he had slept with the chick, right? 

“Not the most reliable, that one.” Korg piped in a ridiculously high voice for his structure. 

“Okay...” Tony said, drawing out the word to show his confusion. Eir, the woman across from him seemed oddly amused by the whole conversation. “Anyways, I think I have the problem mostly figured out. It looks like I can work up an arc reactor or two that should be able to sync with your tech. Do you mind if I bring that battery home with me?” 

“Of course. Indeed? Even without her help?” Thor asked, stuttering on the her. 

“Sure, if I run into any issues I’ll give you guys a call, maybe she’ll be around then, but yeah.” Tony said, really ready for this awkward lunch to be over. “In fact, if you don’t mind, I’d love to get back to it. I think I really only have an hour’s work left, then obviously I’d need to go back to my lab for the actual building process.” 

“Splendid!” Thor exclaimed. “I’ll join you.” Tony tried not to sigh or otherwise indicate it had been Thor he had been trying to avoid. Tony generally enjoyed spending time with Thor, well enjoyed as much as he really could considering they had nothing in common. 

They started walking and Tony searched for something to talk about, generally not his issue. He did not want to touch on the awkwardness that was Brunnhilde. He also really couldn’t get behind that name. It seemed so stark, so not like the mischievous woman he had met. The thought of mischief made him realize that he could give this whole Loki issue one more shot. 

“I didn’t get a chance to say, I’m really sorry with everything that happened to your people, to Asgard.” Tony started. 

“Thank you, Stark. I appreciate that.” Thor said warmly. 

“Shame about your sister. Two siblings that go on world domination quests. Something in the blood?” Tony asked faux-casually. Then as if he just thought about it, “Oh, right! Loki wasn’t your actual brother.” 

“He is my actual brother.” Thor insisted. Ha! Is! “Or, at least, he was. He may have denied it, but I never did.” Tense mistakes weren’t uncommon with significant deaths, but it seemed like Thor should have gotten it right years later, right? 

“You sure you want to be emphasizing that relationship, big guy?” Tony asked. Then again, absence did make the heart grow fonder. 

“He saved my life, you know, on Svartelfheim. Did I ever tell you that?” 

No, he hadn’t. But then Loki had gone with pretending to be dead, apparently. “Yeah, well. That doesn’t really make everything ok, does it?” 

“No,” Thor responded, and he looked pensive. Tony was struck by a strange feeling of guilt again. 

What was he doing? He was no closer to knowing if Thor knew that Loki was alive. And really what did it matter? If Thor didn’t know, Tony really didn’t want to be the one to tell him. He was fairly sure it would crush the guy. If Thor did know, well, he was obviously trying to hide it from Tony in which case trying to talk about it wouldn’t accomplish anything. Tony sighed and decided to just leave it. He was crazy curious about Loki, but surprisingly, he wasn't worried. Somehow along the way he'd come to the conclusion that he didn't think the once crazy god meant him any harm. 

Tony’s last hour in New Asgard was quiet and uncomfortable. Both he and Thor were lost in their own thoughts. Tony tried to finish up as soon as possible and then tried not to feel hurt when Thor seemed relieved that he was on his way out. It had been a hell of a day. Sure, he had figured out the Asgardian’s power problems, but that had been a given, the least of what he had wanted to accomplish here. But he said his goodbyes and got on his plane anyways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So.... Tony is both completely right and missing the whole point entirely. Ugh, even I just want them to get on with it by this point ; )


	7. One Man in his Time Plays Many Parts

“Loki,” Thor growled as he barged into his room, sans knocking. Loki sent a little magic, just enough to harden the air and push Thor back out through the doorway. He then slammed the door shut. Thor was strong enough to fight it, if he hadn’t been so surprised. After a few moments there was a knock. 

“Come in, Thor.” Loki called. When his brother’s furious red face was visible again, Loki continued. “Thank you so much for being so kind as to knock before entering my room.” 

Loki wasn’t helping his case, he could see that very clearly. Thor was even more incensed than before. Loki didn’t care. It had been so long since he’d had his own space, he was going to guard it with a vengeance; despite the fact that he was absolutely desperate to find out what Stark had told Thor about him. Given how angry his brother looked, it couldn’t have been good. 

“Where were you? Why didn’t you come meet Stark?” Thor asked. Well, if that’s where he was starting, Loki might just have a chance after all. But Thor could be holding back, he was tricky that way. 

“Oh, was that today? It must have slipped my mind.” Loki said, once again not looking up from his tablet to acknowledge Thor. Currently, he was sending spam emails to Dr. Strange for all manner of things, from erectile dysfunction and penile enlargement to requests for aid from princes in Nigeria. It was a nice distraction. 

“Considering I told you about it yesterday, I find that hard to believe.” Thor sighed gustily. 

“All right then. I was busy.” Loki waved a hand distractedly. 

“With what?” Thor asked, and it seemed like he was trying not to be amused. 

“Items of great importance, nothing you would understand.” Loki sniffed. 

“And if I wrestled that damned electronic device from you right now?” Thor asked. 

“You would learn about just how many methods the mortals have developed to have more sex.” Loki said. Sometimes the truth was better than any lie he could come up with. 

“This was more important than helping Stark? Than helping New Asgard? This is our people, Loki. We can’t move forward without this.” Damn it, guilt again. Thor sat down in Loki’s desk chair and put his head in his hands for a moment. He looked up again, blue eye wide and pathetic. “I don’t understand, Loki. I thought you were trying. Everything was going so well and then you went on this vacation and I feel like I’ve lost you again somehow. What happened?” 

Loki wondered if Thor knew. Was this him giving Loki a chance to come clean? The oaf could be cunning when he put his mind to it. The truth it was, mostly. 

“I just couldn’t face Stark.” 

“Why not? He wouldn’t have known who you were; you are a brilliant actor.” Thor allowed. 

“You mean liar.” Loki corrected without thinking. It didn’t sound like Thor knew. Could Stark have truly kept it to himself? Or was Thor letting him out of it because he had saved Stark’s life? That couldn’t be; Thor would still want to know why. Loki hated when he didn’t know how to play a situation. Stark was just too unpredictable. 

“You aren’t going to give me a reason are you?” Thor asked wearily. 

Loki shrugged. “It’s my nature.” 

“In case you decide to care later on, Stark was able to figure it out anyways. He is building two arc reactors for us. He may have questions later that I hope you’ll deign to answer.” Thor growled. 

“It’s not that I don’t care, Brother.” Loki started. Thor shot him a glare and he decided to just leave it where it was. A different tack then. “Did you have an enjoyable reunion with your fellow Avenger?” 

Thor frowned and Loki tried not to show his nerves. “Stark is…different.” 

That got Loki’s attention. “Different how?” 

“Quieter? Pensive? I don’t know. Just different. I suppose everyone grows up eventually, even Tony Stark. But he seemed a bit, sad somehow.” Thor waved off his words, perhaps realizing who he was speaking to. “But I know, a mortal is beneath your notice. Good night, Loki.” 

“That’s it?” Loki blurted. His filter had gotten really bad lately. 

“What more do you wish me to say?” Thor asked, looking as tired as Loki had ever seen him. 

Loki would like him to say much, actually. He would love to get a transcript of every word Stark spoke while he was here, every gesture and expression. But Loki just shrugged, what more was there to say? This infatuation had gotten out of control. His intentions on forgetting all about the man so that his power would be diminished had gone far astray, as all Loki’s plans did. Now it was affecting his work here, his relationship with his brother. 

As Thor closed the door behind him, Loki threw the tablet in his hands against the wall. The device shattered in a beautiful array of glass and sparks. It was momentarily, extremely satisfying. Loki clenched his hands against the desire to do the same to something else that would be rewardingly pulverized. But as usual, his sense of satisfaction faded into frustration far quicker than he would have liked. So instead of doing more damage, he waved his hand at the debris and it formed back together on his desk, the tablet now perfectly intact. 

Loki didn’t know what to do. He tried forgetting. He tried giving in and fulfilling the need. Nothing seemed to work. The trickster was hopelessly lost. He couldn’t see Stark again, not as himself. He couldn’t face the hatred in those eyes again. Loki considered returning to him as Angelica, but Stark wasn’t one to continue past a night of passion. From Loki’s research it appeared that he had only done so once, that the public knew about, with Pepper Potts. Plus, he knew he would have a hard time carrying on that façade for long. He had researched enough to be able to pass for a mortal for one night, but not for much longer. There were too many potential gaps in information. Not to mention that slip of character when Stark had called Angelica ‘Princess’, just like he had with Loki. So, what was he to do? 

Inexplicably, Loki found himself teleporting back to Stark’s workshop. He was invisible and hidden from even the computer’s sights. Stark was deep in concentration, hovering over an Asgardian containment unit. Loki just enjoyed watching him for a while. Stark was a pillar in a sea of chaos. Loki didn’t know what most of the items were around the man but there was little order to the bits of metal and wire. 

Stark’s handsome face was intent, his lean body was mostly unmoving, but his fingers were flying across the unit and his projections, reaching every now and then to grab a cup of what Loki guessed was very strong coffee. Stark seemed to require that beverage for work as much as he required alcohol for relaxation. Loki knew the man’s mind never stopped, rather like his own. Stark suddenly stilled, his shoulders rose with restrained tension and he looked around the room. 

“FRIDAY, is anyone here?” Stark asked cautiously. 

“Just you, boss.” Came a voice from the ceiling. Stark’s computerized assistant. Stark didn’t relax. He continued to peer around, as if he could see Loki if he just squinted the right way. 

“So you can hide from Heimdall and from my tech. That makes you extremely dangerous.” Stark called cautiously. 

So, he had spoken to Heimdall enough that he knew the Gatekeeper’s powers. What else had they spoken about? Had he told Heimdall of Loki’s little excursion? Loki needed to know. He couldn’t live in doubt any longer. So, he made himself visible, hoping that his lack of armor or weapon would put Stark at least slightly more at ease. 

Stark gasped. “Perimeter breach!” He called. 

“I detect no one but you, boss.” The computer responded. 

“You are no help whatsoever.” Stark groaned but waved at the ceiling negligently. 

“What did you say to Thor?” Loki asked, feeling that the normal polite beginnings of conversation were likely as unwanted as they were unnecessary between two foes. 

“So, what do you go by nowadays? Odinson? Liesmith?” Stark asked, his face suspiciously neutral. His tone much calmer than it had been a moment ago. 

“Just Loki is fine.” He responded through gritted teeth. 

Stark snorted, “Like Prince.” 

For all Loki’s research, most references still alluded him; he hadn’t had enough time with all the work New Asgard required. But he played off his ignorance, “If you wish.” 

“Still disowning your dad, huh, Kylo Ren?” Stark said with a bit of a smile. 

“No…it’s…complicated.” Loki sighed. They were getting off topic. “Why didn’t you tell my brother?” 

“So, you don’t want to be called Odinson, but you still call Thor your brother. Why?” The infuriating mortal asked. 

“What are you trying to accomplish with this interrogation? Answer my question and I’ll leave you alone as I promised.” Please, don’t let me believe that you have any interest beyond being enemies, Loki thought. He just needed to see where he stood and then he could go away again. 

“Answer my question and I’ll answer yours,” Stark bargained and now he really was smiling, smiling in an infuriatingly smug way. Well Loki could do smug better than anyone. 

Loki gave Stark his scariest smile, the one with far too many teeth. He felt a brief thrill of victory at the slight lessening of Stark’s smugness, but the inventor played it off well. It only lasted for a second. 

“Are you sure you want to play this game with me, Stark? I practically invented it.” Close enough, from this mortal’s perspective at least. 

“Who knew your ego would give mine a run for its money?” Stark commented, seemingly not the least bit uncomfortable. This was certainly a significant change from their last encounter; maybe he had just gotten better at hiding it. 

“Well I have been at this quite a bit longer than you,” Loki allowed. “An answer for an answer, do we have an accord?” Loki held out his hand, knowing that a handshake was traditional for sealing bargains in the United States. 

“Why do I feel like I am making a deal with the devil?” Stark asked, but apparently wasn’t looking for reassurance as he grabbed Loki’s hand to shake. Loki definitely didn’t feel a soft flare of lust at that small bit of contact, that warm hand in his much cooler own, because that would have been pathetic. So, Loki just started in on the game. 

“Yes, I do consider Thor to be my brother. He had no part in the lie of my parentage. He has also proven since then that the truth of my origins has not changed our relationship. Frankly, he’s been ridiculously forgiving all things considered. For good or ill, he’s my brother.” 

“Took you long enough.” Stark huffed. “Why couldn’t you have figured that out when you were here trying to kill us all?” 

“This is not a free conversation, Stark. This is a data exchange. Fulfill your end and then you may ask another question.” Loki really hoped the inventor would decide that was not how he wanted to use his turn on the next go. He would prefer not to answer that particular question. 

“Oh fine!” Stark said and rolled his eyes, but his face was still decidedly not-angry, interesting. “I guess...I don’t know. I probably could have taken those guys, especially since the first asshole missed his shot and destroyed the element of surprise. But that doesn’t change the fact that you came here to save my life. But then it was you and I kinda freaked. You didn’t do anything to hurt me, well you were sort of a dick, but what else would I expect?” Stark stopped and sighed, perhaps realizing that his words were getting ahead of his brain again. “I guess I just felt like I owed you one. So, did I? Does Thor know you are here? Does he even know you are alive?” 

Loki fought not to sigh with relief at Stark’s questions, these were easy ones. “You asked three questions, which one do you wish me to answer?” 

Stark actually grinned at that, he thought for a moment and then perked up as he found the right wording for his question. “What does Thor know about your presence here?” 

It was a clever question, but not quite clever enough. ‘Here’ was such a subjective word. But Loki decided to be benevolent. “Define ‘here’.” 

Stark looked intrigued at the question. “Here as in my workshop.” He decided. 

Loki could have just said that Thor had no idea and left it at that. But he knew that would likely stop the game as Stark wouldn’t deem it a fair answer. Norns help him, but he wanted to keep talking. 

“Thor has no idea I am here.” Loki said, because he couldn’t resist. He waited until he saw the frustration wrinkle the space between Stark’s eyebrows before he continued. “He does know I’m alive; I came to Earth with him, in fact. However, I am not exactly allowed to leave New Asgard.” 

“Then why are you here?” Stark asked, then grunted. “No, your turn. I get it.” 

“Why are you here and not with the Avengers?” Loki asked. Stark looked like Loki had punched him in the gut. Loki suspected this had something to do with Thor’s words about how Stark had changed. Now that Loki was paying attention, he could sense the loneliness of the man. 

“I’m still one of the team; hell, technically I’m in charge, but it isn’t the same. I just don’t feel…crap I can’t believe I’m actually telling you this stuff. I’m avoiding getting further attached. It hasn’t worked out so well.” Stark sighed and looked a little lost. Loki could understand that, even if he was doing a terrible job of it. “What are you doing here?” 

Loki raised an eyebrow at Stark, had he really not learned his lesson? Stark frowned and re-phrased. “What are you doing here on Earth?” 

“As I said, Thor is my brother. When I was tossed out of the bifrost onto Sakaar… I assume you have heard the story of Asgard and our sister?” Tony nodded. “I had planned on just escaping, staying hidden on Sakaar for as long as I could manage. Then Thor showed up and he was so stupidly determined to save Asgard and I just had to help him.” And prove that he wasn’t just the god of mischief just like Thor intended, the sly fucker. 

“But why are you still here?” Stark asked. 

Loki sighed. “I don’t know where else I would go. I can’t go back to Sakaar. There’s nowhere else he can’t find me. And…truth be told, I missed my brother. Plus, I suppose I am used to helping Asgard at this point.” Then Loki scowled when he realized he had answered two of Stark’s questions in a row. 

“There is so much to unpack with that I don’t even know where to start. Why can’t you go back to Sakaar? Who are you hiding from? Why are you used to helping Asgard?” 

Stark was looking at Loki as intently as he had the machine. Those eyes just wanted to take him apart so he could figure out how Loki worked. It was a disconcertingly familiar look. But just because Loki held the same interest as a new bit of tech, was not enough to believe it would go any further. 

“Oh no, Stark. You already got two questions in a row. It is my turn.” Loki chided. 

“But I’m boring.” Stark whined and then seemed to think about it. “Ok, no I’m not. But I don’t want to talk about me for once.” 

“Why do you want to talk about me?” Loki asked. It wasn’t the question he was intending on asking, but it was the one he was dying to get the answer to. 

“Why, he asks? You are a centuries old alien god of mischief. Six years ago you brought a different alien army to earth so you could take over and have everybody fulfill your kneeling fetish. You were freaking insane, but you still caused a lot of damage. Of course, we kicked your ass and your brother hauled you back up to space get a spanking from daddy. Next we hear from him you’re dead, apparently having saved his life. Then you show back up here looking far saner with a makeover and you save my life. How could I not have a million questions?” There wasn’t hatred in Stark’s eyes, only bright interest. 

“I have told you that I am not supposed to leave New Asgard. Will you tell Thor I came here? Twice?” Loki asked. 

“Hey! My turn!” 

“No, Stark. You got two in a row, now so do I.” 

Stark huffed. “I need more information first.” Which was entirely fair, not that Loki liked it. 

“Then ask.” Loki sighed. 

“Why did you kill those men?” 

“Because they were attempting to kill you.” Loki answered promptly. 

“Ugh, you know what I mean. Why would you care?” Stark asked. 

“I don’t know.” Loki answered, it was the truth, if not a very satisfying one. 

“Seriously? Not good enough, Lokes.” Stark was frowning at him again. But he had also called him ‘Lokes’. It both annoyed and thrilled him in equal measure. He had no idea how to respond and, as such, let it be. 

“Truly, I had no intentions of making myself known to you. But I was looking through AIM’s private files.” 

“Seriously? You hacked into AIM? How? It took me years, not that I had the proper motivation until now, of course.” Stark interrupted indignantly. 

Loki smiled, “Magic.” 

“Fucking magic.” Tony grumbled, but he gestured for Loki to go on. 

“I came across their deployment of a team to neutralize you. I honestly didn’t think; I just found myself teleporting to you.” Loki said, even that much truth making him itchy and uncomfortable. 

“Not good enough, you’re still hiding something.” Stark pressed. 

“I promised you answers; I never promised you the whole truth, Stark.” Loki growled in frustration. 

“How am I supposed to be comfortable with keeping your secret when you are obviously hiding something?” Stark threw back. 

Loki fumed. He hated how often Stark was right. How he presented his ideas so rationally that Loki couldn’t in good conscience refute them without sounding ignorant or childish. Once again, he was itching for violence, itching to force Stark to his will. 

“The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them. I swear to you, Stark, what I am currently not telling you will cause no harm to anyone.” Oaths were tricky; he knew lots of secrets that could cause harm to many, but he was fairly confident that his infatuation with Stark wasn’t one of them. 

“What about you? Will it cause harm to you?” Stark asked. 

Loki opened his mouth to say of course not, but shut it with a snap. This secret had already hurt him far more than he’d like to admit. So, he deflected. 

“Why would that concern you?” Loki asked. 

“I dunno. It doesn’t, I guess.” Stark looked uncomfortable. It did bother him, Loki realized, and he was uncomfortable with the fact that he didn’t know why. Loki was in total agreement. 

“I believe we are at an impasse, Stark.” Loki said. 

“So what do we do now, Rock of Ages?” Stark asked. 

Loki shrugged. “At this point I usually change the subject or leave.” 

Stark snorted and Loki looked at him questioningly. “Add get drunk to that list and we could be the same person. Damn it, I hate it when Thor is right.” 

“On this we agree as well. What was Thor right about? I won’t share it with him, he has a big enough head already, being king and all.” 

Stark laughed fully at that and it made Loki’s heart clench, stupid organ. “He said I reminded him of you. I’d pulled a prank on Bruce, I don’t even remember what it was, it was years ago, just after you’d, apparently, died.” Tony looked sidelong at him. “You going to explain that one?” 

“What’s to explain? I did die. I just didn’t stay dead.” Loki tried to get the conversation back on track to a less touchy subject for Stark. “Pranks would definitely get to that sentimental oaf. I’ve been known to perform them on occasion.” 

Stark apparently wasn’t having any of it. “But you let Thor think you stayed dead, even after you knew he thought you were dead before the invasion. You said he’s still your brother, you’ve implied that you still love him. How could you do that?” 

“It was the only way I could go free. Maybe I deserved to stay in that cell for the rest of my life, but I couldn’t do it. By all accounts Thor had given up on me, my father had disowned me and my mother was dead. I avenged her, was able to save Thor and I took my freedom for myself. I will not apologize for it.” Loki could feel the tension in his jaw and, with effort, relaxed. 

“Look, I get it. I won’t say it was right and it was a shitty thing to do to Thor, but I get it.” At Loki’s baffled face, Stark continued. “You think I haven’t wanted to just say ‘Fuck it’, and take off? I haven’t because, despite what other people may think, I do apparently have at least a drop of responsibility in my selfish heart somewhere.” Loki nodded. Stark was far less selfish than he gave himself credit for, that Loki had seen firsthand. 

“You flew a nuclear missile into a portal, risking your life for the city. How could anyone call you selfish?” Loki asked. 

“How do you know what kind of missile it was?” Stark asked curiously, also cleverly deflecting. Norns, Loki was enjoying this far too much. 

Loki rolled his eyes. “I do have access to the internet, Stark.” 

“The God of Mischief set loose on the World Wide Web, fucking terrifying.” Stark and Loki both chuckled together. 

“You have no idea.” Loki said lasciviously. Did he detect a bit of a shudder at that? It didn’t look like one of terror either. Perhaps there was hope for this Stark after all. Stop, Loki chided himself internally. That is not the reason you are here. He still needed to get that promise from Stark not to tell Thor. But the inventor had already started speaking. 

“You should friend me on Facebook, if you have one. If you don’t have one you should get one. I feel like you’d be a riot.” Stark smiled; he clearly had no idea the torrent of confusion his words had thrown Loki into. 

Would this mortal never cease to surprise him? Few people could stun Loki so often; he had made it his life’s work to study behavior and deceptions and it had been a long one. Even the Grandmaster, a man far older than Loki and objectively insane, hadn’t shocked the god this frequently. A friendship, even online, was something Loki had ceased hoping for. 

“Friend,” Loki repeated. The word held so much meaning. Stark, recognizing the connotations, seemed uncomfortable. 

“Yeah, I mean. You don’t seem that crazy anymore and you’re not here to hurt anyone right? You’re staying safe with Thor in New Asgard?” 

Loki hummed his assent, not really trusting words at the moment. His brain was a flurry of thoughts. Part of him wanted to escape immediately, so he could be alone and unpack this entire, baffling conversation. The other part wanted to test this newfound comfort. Stark was still seated at his workbench with Loki on the other side of it, several feet away. A comfortable distance for the both of them. Loki took a couple of testing steps forward, Stark didn’t even twitch. 

Loki just didn’t understand. Where did the judgements go? The rage? They couldn’t have been forgotten so easy. But Loki was a coward. 

“So, will you tell Thor that I was here?” Loki asked instead. 

“Won’t he figure it out once we’re all friendly on social media?” Stark asked. 

Loki laughed. “It’s adorable that you think Thor has ever been on Facebook.” 

Stark laughed too, “Fair point. It even sounds weird to hear you say Facebook. No, I won’t tell Thor. As long as you don’t make any trouble, I don’t see why he needs to know.” 

Loki grinned and raised a teasing eyebrow. “I knew you couldn’t possibly be all noble.” 

“Do you have a sister?” Stark asked suddenly. Where in the Hel did that come from? 

“Yes, Hela, the Goddess of Death. I thought you said you knew that story.” Loki said, wondering if Tony had been hit on the head. 

“Oh, yeah. I meant another one. Something about your expressions…” Stark trailed off. “Do you know Brunnhilde?” Brunnhilde? It was an Asgardian sounding name. One that felt familiar but no-one he knew personally. 

“No, I don’t believe so.” Loki said cautiously. That was apparently the wrong answer. Tony frowned looking just shy of angered. 

“Ok… tell me that you at least have a sorceress.” 

“My mother was the last sorceress…” Loki’s brain caught up to his mouth and he could have died right then and there. Of course, Tony meant him. Thor would have described Loki’s female form and called her a sorceress. Though he had no idea where he got Brunnhilde from. Well, they didn’t call him Silvertongue for nothing. 

“Ohhhh… you are asking about the woman you were supposed to meet?” Loki snorted. “Sorceress is pushing it, but I suppose she dabbles enough that the word technically applies. She certainly has enough of an ego for one, but I don’t like to encourage her.” 

He was maybe laying it on a little thick, but if he was honest with himself, it was probably how he would speak of anyone else who deemed themselves to have enough power to be considered alongside himself. A certain ‘Sorcerer Supreme’ came to mind. Tony was frowning, but it was more of a pondering frown than a disbelieving one. Loki anticipated the next question. 

“But they said her name was Brunnhilde?” He said. 

“That is her given name, but she never goes by it, which is why I didn’t think of it. I mean, Brunnhilde? Far too staid for a dabbler of magic. She goes by Lopt.” Loki said, picking one of his own, old names out of nowhere. He knew the billionaire had looked into the Norse mythology, but he hoped that he hadn’t looked that in depth. There was no spark of recognition on Stark’s face that he could see, so Loki believed he was in the clear. Now, Stark just looked intrigued. 

“Where does Lopt come from?” Stark asked, and Loki sighed. He really wanted to talk about this as little as possible. This whole situation was awkward enough. 

“It’s Norse for Air, one of her ‘specialties’,” Loki made the air quotes gesture and Stark laughed. 

“I’m sensing some rivalry here.” Stark said with a playful grin that Loki had seriously missed. 

Loki scoffed. “Rivalry implies any sort of threat. I’m the best sorcerer in the nine realms.” 

“No offense to that massive ego of yours, dude. But I heard about guys not doing magic on Asgard, so that doesn’t seem like that impressive of a title.” 

Loki froze. What had they said to Stark about him using magic? His brain filled in a lot of different words, none of them particularly flattering. Had Thor said them? Heimdall? 

“Sorry, that was stupid. It’s obvious that would be a sensitive subject; I shouldn’t have brought it up.” Stark said, looking chastened. 

“No, it’s…true. I’m unmanly, abnormal, deviant, anything else Thor said about me.” Loki couldn’t quite meet Stark’s eyes. It was ridiculous; this shouldn’t bother him anymore. He wasn’t even Asgardian, there was no reason for him to follow those absurd traditions anyways. 

“Hey, no! Thor didn’t say anything about it. I was asking Heimdall to tell me a bit about magic and those seeing powers of his. Even he didn’t say anything that bad. He just said you didn’t follow tradition. The worst he said was unseemly. Plus that’s all horseshit anyways. Why wouldn’t you want to be a badass sorcerer if you had the talent? Following tradition just because it’s tradition is for cowards.” Stark finished his rant looking quite determined. 

It took everything in Loki not to grab that ridiculously bearded face and kiss him senseless. In his immense gratitude for the words he’d always felt but, never had anyone else agree, he must have let too much show on his face; Stark leaned back a bit and looked uncomfortable. Loki affected a wide grin to try to deflect. 

“Obviously, I agree. That’s why I spent centuries on Vanaheim and Alfheim studying from their sorcerers. I didn’t say best in Asgard, you are right that wouldn’t mean anything. I said best in the Nine Realms.” Stark doesn’t look quite impressed enough for Loki’s taste, but there was definitely consideration on his face, so Loki would take it. 

Loki should take this opportunity to leave before they managed to get into another argument. He had his promise from Tony that Thor would not be informed. This seemed like a very good time to quit while he was ahead. Obviously, Stark felt differently. 

“Well I suppose I should do my best to keep on the good side of the best sorcerer in the nine realms, even if I did already kick his ass.” But he said it with a smile. 

“Actually, Stark. It was Banner who kicked my ass; you have not yet had that privilege.” Loki countered, also with his own smile. Stark looked surprised at his answer, possibly because Loki had taken mention of his defeat without any anger. But it really was hard to regret that course of events when it led Loki right here; when he knew how much worse it could have been. 

“Touche,” Stark said, tipping his mug at Loki, who nodded. Now they were back to the awkward silence. Loki found himself picking at his left hand. 

“I suppose I should get back before Thor comes looking for me.” Loki said reluctantly. 

“Yeah, I’ve got this,” Stark said gesturing to the parts on his workbench, “to get you all up and running.” 

“We do appreciate the help, Stark. Feel free to ask if you have any further questions. At least, if you want answers from a true expert.” Loki winked at Stark before teleporting away. 

Loki was pleased to see that when he teleported into his own room, Thor hadn’t barged in again. He lay down on his bed with a sigh. He had actually done it. Stark had promised not to reveal his visits and they had a conversation with minimal arguments. Loki conjured his tablet to his hand. He had a Facebook profile to set up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Progress! Thank you for bearing with me!


	8. The Lunatic, the Lover, and the Poet, are of Imagination all Compact

Loki Odinson sent you a Friend Request. 

Tony had been staring at the little friend icon with the red number over it for at least ten minutes. Tony always had a ridiculous number of friend requests. He never bothered to delete them, just let the number grow. Now, when he hovered over it, there was Loki Odinson in blue right at the top of the list. The picture next to the name wasn’t of the god himself, but an icon of two intertwined snakes. Tony had already looked up the symbol and now knew it to be Loki’s sigil. He wondered how long Loki had debated over the last name. Facebook required one, but he could have put in anything; he chose his original last name. That had to mean something right? 

Tony had gone over their last conversation dozens of times. It was embarrassing to admit but the Angelica/Brunnhilde/Lopt craziness had taken a backseat to the enigma that was the God of Mischief. Tony couldn’t get over how different the guy was. The ego was still there, in spades. He still seemed like a coiled snake with violence and danger just under the surface, something that had come out a few times during their discussion when things got heated. But he appeared to have a handle on it. He was mostly cool and collected, confident. And yes, it had been six years, but to someone who had lived centuries, it seemed odd that he could have changed that much in that little time. He was a puzzle that Tony was just itching to solve. This seemed like the first step. 

Tony clicked the confirm button and went on to Loki’s page. It seemed that the god had just yesterday made the profile, just after their little conversation. That was...flattering? Confusing? Terrifying? Tony wasn’t sure. He was deeply embarrassed to admit, even to himself, that he was disappointed that there were no pictures of the god. The man was crazy hot. Attractive in a way that hadn’t gotten Tony’s attention in a very long time; in fact, he couldn’t remember the last time he had been this into a guy. Last time he visited, the god had looked wrecked. He had been corpse pale, with crazy hair and dark circles under red eyes. Just another detail to add to the list of questions building around the god. Before he could think better of it, Tony clicked the message icon. 

     - Isn't Loki Odinson a little obvious? 

His words appeared next to his profile picture, which was just a blueprint-style rendering of his Iron Man helmet. Tony got excited when almost immediately those three little dots started bouncing to indicate that Loki was typing a response. 

                    -My research indicates that my relationship with Thor was never publicized. 

                    -Plus who would believe that the alien invader got a Facebook profile? 

     -Fair point 

Tony thought a few minutes before just saying “Fuck it” and asking what he wanted to ask. 

     -Did you get a Facebook account just because of me? 

The grey dots bounced for an inordinately long time. Tony’s heart sped up; he had no idea why he was so nervous about this answer, but he definitely was. No matter the answer, it would be extremely telling. The grey dots kept bouncing, Tony’s heart kept beating. Finally, 

                    -Yes 

Huh, well that certainly hadn’t taken Loki minutes to compose, unless he was really bad at typing, which Tony suspected wasn’t the case. It looked like Loki was as uncomfortable with this tentative friendship as Tony was. The question was, if it was so uncomfortable for the two of them, why the hell were they doing it? But Tony decided a little levity was necessary. 

     -Don’t fall in love with me, kid; I’ll break your heart. 

Loki responded with that emoji with the straight, disbelieving mouth and the condescending eyebrow. It was so Loki that Tony almost fell off his chair laughing. 

                    -We aren’t going to even touch on the ridiculousness of you calling me ‘kid’. 

     -To be fair, you do look a fair bit younger than me. How old are you anyways? 

                    -I’m not entirely sure, somewhere past my first millennia, around 1,050 

     -Wow 

                    -I’m actually quite young still 

     -No wife and kids like in the myths? 

                    -No, I was still considered too young for that before everything 

If there was a word with weight it was ‘everything’. Tony didn’t know a lot about the events that had happened before Loki had disappeared from Asgard and showed up with the Chitauri in tow. Thor had mentioned something about Loki getting him banished and having to destroy the bifrost, but he’d been pretty loathe to go into it. Tony suspected Loki was as well, probably not a good subject to get into, at least initially. 

     -So how old do you guys live anyways? 

                    -The average is about 5,000 years. 

Tony did some quick math in his head. 

     -That would make you the equivalent of 16! 

                    -I’m not a teenager, Stark 

     -I hit you! And offered you alcohol too! 

                    -If you keep referring to me as if I am child, I will end this conversation 

     -Sure, of course, kiddo. It’s probably your bedtime anyways, right? 

The little green dot that showed that Loki was actively on Facebook disappeared and Tony chuckled. He may have pissed the god off, but it was so worth it. Assuming he didn’t show up to wreak vengeance. Tony had a strong feeling that he wouldn’t though. 

Tony obviously didn’t think that Loki was exactly the equivalent of 16. He was wicked smart and definitely mature enough to try to take over planets, though not so mature as to realize that was a terrible idea. But, he was so early in his life for all the crap that had happened. Tony wondered if he would ever know what had set the guy off, why he was mostly sane again and most importantly, what he could possibly want from one of the guys that killed his dream of world domination? 

So began the tentative friendship of Tony and Loki. They talked on Facebook; Loki popped in every few days or so for a few hours. They had drinks, ate pizza, talked, the usual things that you do with friends. It was ridiculously weird just how normal it felt. Loki was seriously fun to talk to, keeping up with Tony’s mile-a-minute thoughts and 180 changes in topic like a champ. The god was far more thoughtful about what he said, but Tony could tell that the brain was working quickly behind those pretty green eyes. 

One particularly memorable night they had even played Call of Duty together. Loki shouted at the screen and threw his controller in disgust like every other guy Tony had ever played with. It was really easy to forget who he was. Loki had even affected some normal clothing, wearing a green collared shirt and black jeans or a green cardigan and black slacks; no matter what Tony tried, he couldn’t change the guy’s color palate. Apparently, he had been forced to wear blue and yellow on Sakaar and had decided he was never wearing anything but his usual colors ever again. Tony wondered if he could talk the guy into a tee shirt, green if necessary. The billionaire thought he might freak out if the god went so far as to show his bare arms. 

They got in the habit of playing their little question game once a week. Tony would ask something innocuous like what was Loki’s favorite food? Lox, weirdly enough. Loki would ask the same, burgers, duh, or he would ask something equally inane. They would trade questions back and forth, each turn getting more and more personal until they hit the point that one of them refused to answer. Tony asked what made Loki go crazy, since the adoption thing couldn’t be all of it. Loki teleported away, and Tony didn’t hear from him for an entire week. Loki countered the next time by asking why Tony kept the flip phone on him at all times when he had no intentions of contacting Captain America. Tony had stomped off to his lab and ignored all of Loki’s communications until finally the god had teleported right on top of his desk with a box of his absolute favorite pizza. Tony forgave him, but only because of the pizza. 

Once Tony had saved up his big question to ask where the stories about Loki’s kids as crazy monsters had come from, expecting that to be a sore subject. Tony had ended up being the one to stomp away from that conversation, frustrated because Loki wouldn’t stop laughing at him long enough to answer the damn question. Once Loki had settled down, he told Tony about how most of the more ridiculous myths were a result of him pranking his dad. Apparently, that was the impetus for them to stop visiting Earth as well. That got Tony laughing; this guy was literally the original internet troll. 

Otherwise, they tended to not talk about anything important or controversial, like the usual casual bro relationship, but through the questions Loki agreed to at least partially answer, Tony was able to glean some important facts. The most telling to Tony was that New York wasn’t solely Loki’s idea, there was someone else behind it, someone Loki was deeply afraid of. Tony, of course, obtained that bit of information through context rather than dialogue. Tony was pretty sure Loki would rather die than admit to being afraid of anything. 

Speaking of things you’d rather not admit, Tony sorta wished that he didn’t enjoy the arguing so much. It got a little lonely when he and Loki didn’t speak as the only other person he interacted with consistently was Pepper. But it was like he couldn’t help himself; he kept testing that boundary, wondered when he would push it too far and he’d never see Loki again, like he had with pretty much everyone except Pepper and Rhodey. Even Pepper had broken up with him romantically and he didn’t see Rhodey that often. But Loki just kept coming back, kept fighting with that spark in his eyes and smirk on those lips that Tony increasingly wanted to kiss. 

To distract himself from that very concerning development, Tony had tried to contact Angelica/Brunnhilde/Lopt/whoever through Thor under the guise of needing help with the arc reactors. She was never available to speak. He supposed she may be as one and done as Tony generally was. She was probably wondering why the playboy couldn’t manage to move on, had probably picked him in the first place because that was his usual M.O. So that distraction had been a dead end. 

There was a fringe benefit to his friendship with a sorcerer. With Loki’s increased presence in his tower, Tony had been getting more and more data on the energy patterns that his magic left behind. Because of this he had been making increasing progress on the anti-magic device. He had also used their little question and answer sessions to get some more practical data on magic use. He now knew the energy came from within Loki, which was why the guy ate as much as Thor yet was still whipcord slim. He also found out why sometimes there is a visible glow as magic is being done and other times there isn’t. Little details, but they helped develop the overall picture. 

He had considered asking Loki for help, but dismissed the idea for two reasons. One, he kinda wanted to surprise him. He got the feeling that the god of mischief was rarely surprised and that half the reason he kept coming back to Tony was that the inventor managed it on occasion. Two, he didn’t want to give the impression that the invention was meant to be a weapon against him. It might have been just a few weeks ago, but definitely not anymore. Tony didn’t want anything to disrupt this comfortable yet exciting relationship they had going. So, of course it was only a matter of time. 

Tony and Peter were in the lab working on Peter’s web shooters. The kid had come straight from class for his “internship” nearly bouncing with excitement. He had come up with a new formula for the web that he wanted to show Tony. He also needed Tony’s resources to re-configure the shooters to work with the more viscous fluid. They had their heads bent over the magnifying glass when a voice rang out behind them that made them both jump. 

“I’m bored, Stark. Entertain me.” Tony spun around and spotted Loki lounging on the couch in the corner of the lab, hand on his forehead in a “woe is me” gesture. 

“Shit, Loki!” Tony cursed, and Loki looked at him frowning. When he caught sight of Peter he jumped to his feet. 

“Mr. Stark?” Peter said cautiously. “Is that who I think it is?” 

“Uh, if you think it’s the guy who attacked New York, nope. Definitely not. Looks just like him, huh?” Tony yammered. Suddenly, he couldn’t believe that he hadn’t anticipated this inevitability. Loki popped in at all hours in all places. Tony had never gotten around to asking how he seemed to always know exactly where Tony was, but it looked like that knowledge didn’t translate to knowing if anyone else was in the room. “Kid, you should probably go. Pretend this never happened.” 

“I’m not leaving you alone, Mr. Stark. We can take him together.” Peter grabbed for one of the web shooters and Tony felt a warm affection for the kid trying to protect him. But he was pretty sure Peter was going to get himself hurt pointing weapons at Loki like that. Loki may not be totally crazy anymore, but he definitely wasn’t housebroken. To Tony’s mute shock, Loki did not take up battle positions. He merely smiled fondly. 

“Hello, Little Spider.” He said with a bit of a bow. “I don’t mean either yourself or your mentor any harm.” 

Tony sighed with relief and put out a hand to pull Peter’s fist clutched around the webshooter down. When he made eye contact with Pete, he was struck by the confusion on the boy's face. Something wasn’t quite right here. 

Tony looked the kid up and down. He was dressed in some jeans and a blue long-sleeve shirt with his school’s logo. Tony looked over at the desk, the Spiderman suit wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Nothing within view had any sort of indication of Peter’s alter ego. What the hell? 

“You know he’s Spiderman?” Tony asked Loki, gesturing to Peter. Loki’s face flashed through confusion and fear and settled on boredom so fast that if Tony hadn’t spent weeks with the guy, he probably would have missed it. This was information Loki had achieved by some method he did not want Tony to know about. 

“Of course, is it not obvious?” Loki said, waving a hand negligently. But when he dropped it, he started to pick at his left palm, something he only did when he was really edgy. 

“Actually, no. I keep track of all the news about Spiderman for that very purpose.” Tony said, his voice dropping in suspicion. 

“Really?” Peter asked. Looking between Loki and Tony in confusion. 

“Peter, I think it’s time for you to leave.” Tony said. When the kid opened his mouth to argue, Tony just glared at him. 

“Ok, but I’m checking in tomorrow just to make sure you’re ok.” Tony gave Peter a half smile for his concern. Both he and Loki watched the kid pack up his stuff and exit the lab. Tony sensed that Loki was avoiding eye contact as much as he was. What the hell was going on here? 

When Peter was out the door, Tony reluctantly turned his gaze to Loki. The Asgardian looked very uncomfortable. It wasn’t something Tony had seen often before. Generally, Tony had only been able to glean discomfort from the context of the conversation and his nervous habit of picking at his hand. The last time Loki’s wariness had so clearly shown on his face was when Tony had yelled at him that first time in the lab, called him evil. If this situation was equal to that, what had Loki done? 

“You better have a very good explanation for this. None of that Silvertongue crap. Tell me straight and tell me in one sentence.” Tony practically growled, hoping the limiters would prevent Loki talking in circles around the problem. 

“Well, brevity is the soul of wit.” Loki quipped. 

Tony went cold. The back of his neck tingled in that way that indicated something very bad was going on. Something about that sentence changed everything. It was as if his brain was a Rubix cube and suddenly the last block clicked into place to make every color clear and clean. It was so obvious, he was a complete and utter idiot for not seeing it before. Shakespeare, magic, dark hair, green eyes, albeit different shades, princess, avoiding him, fuck. No-one's son indeed. 

“That was Shakespeare, right?” Tony asked, and he was a little surprised at how cold his voice sounded. He never talked like this. Loki seemed to catch onto it as well because he actually looked a little afraid. His eyes were just a bit too wide. 

“Yes... he’s one of the Midgardian writers I prefer.” 

“Because he’s a troublemaker. He bucks tradition, right?” Tony said. 

Loki nodded, but then his eyes got big and he winced. “Stark...” 

“Shut the fuck up.” Loki’s mouth snapped shut, so Tony continued. “Tell me it wasn’t you. Tell me you didn’t fuck with me and then, aw hell, fuck me. What was the joke? Make up my perfect date and then laugh when I realized I let an enemy get that close? Or were you just that bored?” Tony’s brain was practically buzzing with rage. If it got any worse, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to form words anymore. 

“No! I swear it wasn’t a joke. The name may have been false, the backstory a fabrication, but that was very much me. It was my personality. That form is my female form; it is no more a lie than the one I currently wear.” Loki looked distraught, not that Tony could trust anything that came out of that lying mouth. 

“What’s that supposed to mean? Are you still wearing an illusion? Are you still lying?” It would just figure. 

“I just meant that both forms are equally me; I just happen to wear this one most often. It was considered more...acceptable in Asgard.” Shapeshifter weirdness was the last thing Tony was going to try to think through right now. 

“That doesn’t change the fact that you lied to me. Seduced me. Why?” 

That was the crux of it. Tony just couldn’t understand what Loki’s motivations could possibly be for such a thing. Loki, for his part, looked crushed. He collapsed on the couch and put his head in his hands. Tony almost felt bad for him, he had no idea why, but he did. 

“Nuh-uh. No. You don’t get to do that. You’re the asshole here, not me. You don’t get the sympathy. You face what you did and tell me what the hell is going on here.” Tony demanded. 

“It’s a very long story.” Loki said. 

“Yeah, no more sliding around things. I’ve been wondering why you’ve been trying to get close to me ever since you came in and ninja’d away those AIM goons. Now it turns out you’ve been after my attention for even longer than that. I need to know why, and it takes as long as it takes.” 

Loki sighed. “I don’t even know where to begin? The Statesman? My invasion? The void? My birth? It’s all connected, none of it pretty.” 

“How about you just tell me where I come in? You can fill in the other pieces later.” Tony was getting seriously tired of this avoidance crap. 

“It’s not that simple, Stark. You don’t understand. Even if I were to tell you the truth, the whole, pure truth, which is something I never do; it is still not particularly linear because it involves the Time Stone.” 

“How about you start with, the fuck is a Time Stone?” Stark said, and he winced a bit at his own voice. He wasn’t one to mince words, he certainly had no issues with cursing, but he was starting to sound a little harsh, even to him. Then he realized what they were talking about. These were the infinity stone thingys. Shit. 

“Sure, starting before the creation of the universe gives us somewhere to go, I suppose. But you aren’t getting the light show from me that Wong gave you.” Loki waved off Tony’s confused look. Tony decided at this point it was probably easier to just keep his mouth shut. “Before creation there were six singularities that formed into stones, imbued with power based on six elements of the universe: Power, Space, Reality, Soul, Time and Mind. Alone they have amazing energy, but when brought together by someone sufficiently powerful, they can do absolutely anything. There is a being called Thanos. He wants to use the power of the stones to wipe out half of all life in existence, purportedly to save the other half.” 

Tony didn’t miss Loki’s shiver at the name. “He’s the one you are hiding from, isn’t he?” 

Loki nodded. “I suspected you had put some of it together. Thanos was the one behind my attack. He plucked me from the void, ensured I was in the proper mental state for violence, and then sent me against you with the Mind Stone. I was to bring him the Tesseract in return, also known as the Space Stone.” 

“But you didn’t.” Tony stated the obvious. 

“I failed and in doing so lost him the Mind Stone as well. I’ve been running ever since. Faking my death wasn’t just so that I would get out of prison, it was so Thanos wouldn’t come looking for me. Then, masquerading as Odin, I was able to send the Aether, the Reality Stone, far from Asgard, since we already had the Tesseract in the Vaults.” 

“You were pretending to be your dad? For how long? Seriously?” Tony stuttered. The dude had balls, he had to give him that. 

“Two years but stay on topic. Thor, of course, finally came home and exposed my farce. You know the story from there with Hela and Sakaar. I was going to stay on Sakaar. I thought it far enough removed that even if word of my being alive got around, I would likely still never see Thanos again. Thor managed to convince me to come and help save our people.” Loki didn’t look particularly happy about that. 

“He tricked you, didn’t he?” Tony said with a bit of a grin, he was starting to calm down with the story, with the promise of truth. 

“Yes, he tricked me. He had to learn something from me eventually. I brought a ship big enough to bring all the survivors from Asgard. As we were getting everyone off, Thor sent me to the vaults to put Surtur’s crown into the Eternal Flame. Of course, we still had the Tesseract. When I saw it, I had to take it. I hid it away thinking to keep it from Thanos, but it brought him right to us.” 

“But, Thor said you got here with no issues.” Tony interjected. 

“Thor doesn’t remember any issues. Please let me go through this. I haven’t told anyone this whole story.” Loki said, and he looked seriously freaked. 

“No one? Not even Thor?” 

Loki looked him right in the eyes and suddenly Tony wanted to sit down too. He pulled over his desk chair and sat down. 

“Not even Thor,” Loki confirmed and then he told his story. At first Tony had to concentrate on not interrupting, he wasn’t exactly the best at staying quiet, but then as Loki went on Tony just got caught up in the story. It was seriously nuts. A whole different series of events that Loki just erased. Then an entirely alternate series of events starting back before Loki’s invasion. He was inclined to not believe a word of it. This was the God of Lies after all, if anyone could tell a good story, it was him. But there were too many details that he couldn’t have known. Too many reactions attributed to Tony that just felt real. 

But there were gaps that Loki was obviously avoiding talking about. He spoke only generally, that there were events he had changed on Asgard, but Tony still didn’t know what caused him to go so crazy in the first place. He mentioned deep conversations with Tony as the beginning of their friendship but didn’t give any details as to the content of those conversations. 

When Loki finished the story, back to where the Statesman made it to Earth safely and they started New Asgard, he seemed unable to look Tony in the eyes. His head was down and he was peeking up at Tony’s reaction through his eyelashes and looking seriously adorable while he was at it. Tony could tell that Loki hadn’t given all the details of their relationship, but he said they had kissed. More importantly, he said Tony had asked him to seek him out whether Thanos was a threat or not. The problem was, Loki hadn’t really. Loki said it himself, he hadn’t planned on coming to Tony except for that murder attempt. What had changed? 

“That’s all pretty unbelievable.” Tony said cautiously. 

“I promise you, Stark. It’s all true.” Loki said. The god looked like he had been wrung out and there was nothing left. This was probably as uncomfortable for him as it was for Tony, but he wasn’t quite ready to forgive just yet. There was one more piece of the puzzle and Tony didn’t care how much it hurt. 

“I believe you.” At this Loki looked up at him in surprise, green eyes meeting his own before looking quickly away again. “I just have one more question, why were you avoiding me? Why did you show up as Angelica instead of yourself?” 

“Stark,” Loki begged. Tony felt a pang at that; Loki was not the begging type. 

“I’m sorry, but I have to know. I appreciate the honesty, I really do. But maybe you don’t get that for most people, truth is just a given. You expect to get the whole story from your friends. And you know what, Loki? I actually thought we were friends. But this is crazy on a level I can’t even compute, so I need you to help me out here and finish the story.” 

“I tell him more than I’ve revealed to anyone else and still he demands.” Loki muttered, almost to himself. Tony opened his mouth in indignation and Loki shook his head and put a hand up to stop him. “No, I do understand, but this is the very reason why I did not come to you. I find myself revealing more to you than I’ve ever done with anyone before. I’m incredibly uncomfortable with this level of vulnerability. I saw this new timeline as an opportunity to reclaim my dignity.” 

“So, what changed?” Tony asked softly. 

Loki looked at him pleadingly, “You’re really going to make me say it, aren’t you?” 

“You can leave, I guess. No one’s keeping you here.” Tony shrugged. 

“You wiggled your way into my brain, you infuriating mortal!” Loki hissed and stood up, too worked up to sit any longer. Tony leaned back from the heat of it but decided it was probably safer to stay sitting. “I tried to just forget you. I've lived a millennium; I’ve done so more times than you could properly count. But no, you just stayed around in the back of my brain. So, I figured if I could just fuck you and get it out of my system I could move on. But of course, you wouldn’t have a one-night stand with the invader of your world, so I had to develop this whole persona that you’d be interested in. And naturally, you were fantastic in bed and fascinating and fun. If that wasn’t enough your life was in danger and I didn’t even consider not coming to save your, admittedly fine, ass. You were, naturally, entirely ungrateful and you said...” 

Loki seemed to choke on the words and Tony felt his guilt lodging in his throat. It seemed that those words had made the god feel as terrible as Tony expected. The billionaire got up to put a hand on Loki’s shoulder, but the guy just brushed him off with an accusing finger and fire in his eyes. He obviously was far from done. 

“Then you just had to come to Asgard to solve our problems and make everything that much more complicated. That necessitated me seeking you out to make sure you didn’t give away to Thor that I was leaving New Asgard without his knowledge, which would jeopardize the whole reason I was here since it was obvious by this point I had no chance with you. But then you were all different but familiar, like you had been in that other timeline. You were the one who brought up friends. What idiot in their right mind wants to be friends with a crazy, evil...” 

Tony had heard enough. He took his life in his hands, and Loki’s face while he was at it, and kissed the god. Loki’s lips were tense and tight in surprise at first, but he quickly melted into the kiss. But, it was no more than two seconds before Loki was pulling away, prompting Tony to stifle a groan. 

“If you are messing with me, Stark, I swear I will gut you where you stand.” Loki growled. 

“How did I suddenly turn into the bad guy?” 

It was seriously backwards; Loki was the one who lied and here he was feeling guilty and getting threatened. The world just wasn’t fair. But then Loki’s lips were slanting over his again and he really didn’t care about anything as long as the guy just kept doing that. Quite suddenly, Tony found himself pressed against the wall of his lab with cool hands kneading his ass through his jeans. 

As it turned out, it didn’t matter what body Loki was currently in, he was the hottest person that Tony had ever been with. The whole shapeshifter thing was definitely a bonus that Tony would be a fool not to explore, later. Right now, he was quite content exploring all the lean muscles on the god who was suddenly wearing too many clothes. 

Of course, the guy had to wear a shirt with all these damn buttons. Tony swore to himself that if they were going to do be doing this on the regular, he would get Loki into tees if he had to destroy all the god's other clothes. Loki grinned at his fumbling with the buttons and grabbed his hands. Suddenly, there was a pressure change that made his ears pop and the world went black for a second. When Tony blinked through the spots in his vision, they were in his bedroom. 

“Though I have every intention of taking you bent over your workbench at some point, Stark. I thought the bed might be best for tonight.” Yup, Tony was definitely going to log that away in his top 5 fantasies. Also, dirty talk, huge turn-on for him. 

As if magically teleporting to the bed wasn’t enough to put ‘sorcerer’ on the top of Tony’s list, Loki then magically removed all their clothing. Tony took his time appreciating the smooth, pale perfection that was Loki before a thought occurred to him. 

“Hey! I liked that shirt!” He protested. It was an old Led Zeppelin tour tee he had gotten in college. 

“You can still like that shirt. You’ll find it in your hamper.” Loki responded smugly. 

“Housekeeping has never seemed so sexy.” Tony laughed and then that was enough talking, more kissing, more touching. 

This time it was Loki who threw Tony on the bed, oh yes, Asgardian strength. Loki followed him, crawling slowly up his body like some jungle cat, before claiming his mouth again. Tony hadn’t gotten a great look, but naked he could now feel their erections pressing against each other with delightful friction and it seemed that Loki had absolutely nothing to be ashamed of in that arena. 

Tony decided he needed more data. Not breaking the kiss for one moment, he slid his hand down grasp Loki. He felt rather than heard Loki’s grunt at the feeling as Tony stroked the god up and down his very long length. Tony was probably a bit thicker, but Loki definitely had him in that arena. 

When Loki’s hand slid down from where it had been delightfully playing with a nipple to press at Tony’s backside, he yelped. Loki pulled away, looking at him questioningly. 

“I’ve, uh, never actually done that. I only top.” Tony explained. Loki stared at him with that eyebrow again. 

“How boring, do you really wish to have sex in the same way every time?” 

“Hey! There’s still a lot you can do. Besides, last time we had sex you were a chick, this will still be plenty different.” Tony countered, slightly nervous that Loki would refuse. 

“As you wish, Stark.” Loki acquiesced with a shrug and then turned them so that Tony was now on top. 

Relieved, Tony took his time exploring the pale body underneath him. He bit down the god’s neck, something he remembered Angelica liking and Loki seemed to appreciate it in his male form just as much. He was teasing a pink nipple with his mouth as he lightly trailed over Loki’s abs with his fingers when he was struck by something unusual. Loki had absolutely no body hair. No happy trail down his abs, no light ring around his nipples, not even on his legs, certainly none hiding his very impressive package. Tony wasn’t sure if it was magic or alien or just Loki. It should have struck him as weird, but somehow it just fit. Once noted, Tony moved on with the fun. 

He kissed and licked and bit his way down Loki’s body, deliberately skipping the part he knew Loki would want most of all. Looking at Loki’s face down that lane of clean, pale skin, Tony gauged Loki’s reaction. His green eyes were darkened and intent. His lips were red and flushed with the kissing they had been doing, but they still had the slight up-tilt of an arrogant smirk. Tony wanted to wipe that smug look off his face, make him pant, make him moan. 

Tony waggled his eyebrows suggestively and without another sign of his intentions just dove in. He took Loki’s erection almost all the way down to the hilt, thankfully he had put in some work on his gag reflex. It had been a while since he had done this, but it was like riding a bike. He fought not to laugh as he drew that moan he so wanted from Loki. Instead he moved slowly down until his nose was touching Loki’s groin and hummed in pleasure. 

Loki gasped and his hands went straight into Tony’s hair pulling just this side of painfully. So, of course, Tony pulled up his length until he was almost all the way off. Loki bit off a protest and now Tony was pretty sure he was the one with the arrogant grin. He proceeded to nip and lick at the tip of Loki’s cock. He gave it the upmost attention without the pressure and friction he knew Loki would want. 

“Stark...” Loki warned, but Tony just chucked and continued his teasing. He licked his way down the impressive length, he nuzzled at the base, caressed his balls. He brought up his hand to squeeze lightly at the base. 

“Stark...” Loki said again, but this time it wasn’t a warning, it was pleading. With a wide grin he dove back down on Loki’s shaft, this time sucking hard. Loki gasped at the sudden change in pressure and Tony could feel him fighting not to thrust upwards. Tony went for it at this point, alternating sucking and swirling his tongue around the tip. He enjoyed Loki’s hands in his hair, the feeling of power he had over someone so much stronger than him. Finally, Loki tapped on Tony’s head, the universal, apparently, sign that he was close. Tony pulled him deeper down his throat and hummed until Loki released with a shout. 

Tony was sure he looked unbearably smug when Loki pulled him up for a kiss, but Loki didn’t comment on it. He did however utter some of the most unbelievably sexy words Tony had ever heard or maybe it was the voice? Either way, pure sex. “Fuck me now, Stark. The next time I come, I want it to be on your cock.” 

Tony was never one to deny a request so poetically spoken. He had to pull away from Loki, unfortunately, to start rummaging through the desk drawer. Loki sighed with impatience practically immediately. 

“You aren’t going to insist on a condom, are you?” Loki asked derisively. 

"Yeah, because that worked out so well last time? No, I’ve accepted that if I’m going to get an alien sex disease, I’ve already gotten it. I’m actually looking for the lube.” 

“And why would you need to do that?” Loki asked and his voice sounded strange, strained. Tony looked over and it seemed that in his absence, Loki had started without him. 

The god currently had two fingers, suspiciously wet, working in and out of his ass. 

“Did you seriously magic up lube?” Tony couldn’t help asking, his eyes rapt on the sight in front of him. 

“Now, Stark, that would be a highly inappropriate use of magic.” Loki chided him, working in a third finger. Holy crap, that sight went straight to Tony’s dick. 

“And you would never be inappropriate, would you?” Tony asked, crawling back over to touch what looked so damn appetizing. 

“Perish the thought,” Loki said and then he moaned and there was no more time for talking. 

Loki met Tony’s eyes challengingly, pupils dilated so much that it was hard to tell they were green. He withdrew his fingers and elegantly, as if there was anything he didn’t do elegantly, turned so that his stomach was on the bed and his ass was displayed invitingly. Tony could definitely take a hint and he pounced so that he was straddling that fine bit of muscle. 

Tony didn’t go right for it this time; he took his time moving his hands over that long expanse of pale, smooth skin. He grinded a little against Loki’s ass as he massaged the cheeks, smiling at Loki’s little sounds of pleasure. Finally, he positioned himself at Loki’s entrance and oh so slowly pressed in. Loki was as hot, wet and tight as Tony could have imagined. It took everything in him not to just slam his hips and force in all of the way. But he knew that the slow torture would be its own pleasure, its own reward. 

So, Tony slowly rocked his hips, entering an inch more each time until apparently someone got impatient and Loki’s hips rose off the bed to take him all the way in. Tony paused there for a moment, chuckling at Loki’s obvious desire and enjoying the sensation of being fully seated in that gorgeous body. But then Loki growled at him and Tony started moving again, not wanting a displeased god on his hands. 

He got a good grip on Loki’s hips and started pounding in, enjoying the gasps as he tried to hit deeper on each thrust. Loki was meeting him movement for movement until his hips were completely off the bed. Tony reached down to cup Loki’s package and sure enough he was hard again, damn there were serious benefits to being a god. He stroked the length a few times before moving back to grip Loki’s hips again. 

He started manipulating Loki’s hips, trying to hit at a different angle inside on each thrust. It wasn’t long before a hitch in Loki’s breathing told Tony that he had found that spot that it hadn’t even occurred to him that, as an alien, Loki might not have. 

He put his full weight on Loki then until he was flat against the bed with Tony mostly covering him. Tony then worked at that spot, hitting it over and over until Loki was moaning almost constantly now. The pleasure between the pressure on his prostate and the friction of the comforter on his cock had to be intense. Loki’s hips started stuttering in their rhythm as Loki pushed back against Tony with more force. Tony kept a grip and moved over so that he could kiss and nose at the base of Loki’s neck, finally after a few more thrusts Tony bit down hard. Loki cried out and Tony could feel him clench hard against his dick. It was only a few more seconds before Tony followed him into a mind-shattering orgasm. 

“So, safe to say we won't be hitting many firsts for you?” Tony asked later, once he could breathe properly again. 

Loki snorted. “I have had sex with women as a man, sex with men as a woman. Man on man, woman on woman; sex in the same configuration would get dreadfully boring after a millennium. But you are more than welcome to try, Stark.” 

It seemed that Loki had decided the conversation was over and it was sleep time. He turned away from Tony, curling up so that they were only touching slightly via their hips. It was exactly the way he had done so as a woman, and Tony was once again oddly comforted by it. He followed Loki to sleep not long after.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY!


	9. But I Will Wear my Heart Upon my Sleeve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're about a third of the way through this fic and I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you to everyone who is reading and leaving kudos and especially to everyone who has commented. Your reactions and predictions absolutely make my day and I truly can't thank you enough for spending some of your valuable time letting me know that you are enjoying the story. I hope that I don't let you down!

This time, Tony woke up before FRIDAY’s wakeup call, but still alone in bed. His arm reached out and probed the empty spot that seemed a bit warmer than the covers around, indicating that Loki had probably left not too long ago. Tony tried to reign in the pang of disappointment he felt. Sure, you couldn’t expect the God of Chaos to be particularly reliable, but on the other hand, he had thought Loki genuinely cared beyond the obvious attraction. 

But no, Tony had seen that look of desperation on Loki’s face when Tony pressured him into telling everything. The god was good, but he didn’t think Loki would want to mimic that kind of vulnerability if he wasn’t actually feeling it. Which was probably why the guy had taken off; he likely felt too exposed. Tony may not like it, but he did understand. 

Tony sat up, rubbed his eyes and blinked in the dim light. FRIDAY hadn’t opened the shades yet. He should just try to fall back asleep, but he was awake at this point, might as well be productive. He was just about to call for lights when a figure on his floor caught his eye. 

Loki was sitting on the carpet, shirtless, legs crossed, arms loose at his sides. He was facing the bed, but his eyes were closed. He had an absolutely serene look on his face that Tony thought he could stare at for hours. It was a completely incongruent look on the trickster’s face. Tony almost couldn’t believe he was the same person. Too, with that smooth face, Tony was struck by just how young the guy looked. He easily could have passed for mid-thirties, maybe younger, when you didn’t look into those eyes. 

“Are you going to say good morning, or keep staring, Stark?” That smooth voice broke Tony out of his reverie. 

Loki’s eyes were open now and a smile had replaced that smooth non-expression. That face, for all its softness, punched Tony in the gut. It was such a pure, happy expression that he never would have expected to see on the erstwhile villain’s face. Tony had a crazy thought that he wanted to make it his job to bring that smile to Loki’s face as often as possible. He quickly banished it to the nether-realm, not wanting to even think of where that desire had come from. 

“Good morning! But I think now that we’ve officially spent the night together, you can call me Tony.” The inventor said, hoping he didn’t sound half as terrified as he felt. 

Loki wrinkled his nose. “Tony sounds like a child’s name. Stark is a warrior.” 

Tony laughed, well he had tried. “What are you doing down there?” 

“Meditating.” Loki responded as he smoothly stood up and started stretching. It was enough to distract Tony briefly from the answer following the lines of muscle on that smooth, pale back. 

“Meditating, huh? Seems a little zen for you.” He responded, when he stopped drooling. 

“My younger self would agree with you. I went many centuries without doing so. It wasn’t until I was in Asgard’s dungeons that I took it up again to center myself, reclaim my sanity as it were.” Loki wasn’t making eye contact again. Tony wondered how hard it was for him to reveal even these small bits about himself. 

“Thank you,” Tony said, and Loki looked at him questioningly. “For telling me what you could last night. I do appreciate the honesty.” Loki hummed noncommittally. 

“I should probably get back, we have a council meeting this morning.” Loki tugged on a shirt that came out of literal thin air. 

“You’re on Thor’s council?” Tony asked and then winced when he heard how skeptical it sounded. Loki just gave him the eyebrow. 

“It was what I was raised to do, be Thor’s advisor, before...” 

“Everything.” Tony finished for him. “I hope that one day you’ll tell me the whole story about what happened.” 

“I’m sure I’ll be compelled to, eventually.” Loki said, a little darkly. Tony wasn’t sure what he had done to deserve that, but he let it go. 

Instead, he got out of bed so that he could go over to Loki and wrap his arms around that smooth skin. He pulled Loki’s head down for a kiss. It wasn’t the searing, rushed kisses of last night. This one was soft and unhurried and still very arousing. Loki pulled away with a last little nibble on Tony’s bottom lip that made him go just a bit weak-kneed. 

“I will see you soon, Stark.” Loki said with a smile. 

“When?” Tony demanded. 

“When I can.” Loki chuckled. “Nothing has changed on that front. I am still not supposed to be leaving New Asgard.” 

“We should do something about that.” Tony argued. 

“Soon, maybe. For now, I like keeping this to myself.” Loki leaned down for another quick peck before he was just gone. 

 

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Once again Loki was walking into a council meeting, late, having just slept with Stark, and yet, everything felt different. Instead of anxiousness and uncertainty, he felt calm, content. It was such an unusual feeling for him that he was tempted to overthink it, analyze it until the serenity was replaced by the more familiar disquiet. But Loki found that he was too sated to pay it much mind. It was a feeling he could get very used to. 

Loki took his seat, put his heels on the table and leaned back casually. Thor frowned at him but said nothing. 

“We’ll start with the open orders of business from the last meeting.” Thor said importantly, and Loki suppressed a snort. It was hard for him to picture Thor going on the internet, but there was no way his brother had come up with that language on his own. “Tony Stark has said that he should be done with the arc reactors in a few months. He apologized that it has taken him longer than expected.” 

Thor shot him a look that clearly said, ‘No thanks to you’. This time, Loki couldn’t help his smirk. Thor really had no idea. Stark had been rather distracted lately, but somehow Loki couldn’t find it in him to feel guilty about it. 

“Speaking of, just where did you come up with the ridiculous name of Brunnhilde?” Loki deflected. 

Thor looked over at Valkyrie, who looked oddly uncomfortable. Loki wasn’t sure he had ever seen the warrior embarrassed before. 

“It’s my name, actually.” She said, trying to mimic her usual confidence. 

Thor and Loki’s eyes met, Thor’s enmity obviously forgotten in his surprise. Loki himself wondered why he never had thought about the fact that he didn’t know the Valkyrie’s real name. The title had suited her so well. 

“Our apologies, dear. We had no idea.” Eir interjected. “Is that the name you would like to be addressed with?” 

“If it’s all the same, I’d rather not. I never liked it.” Valkyrie responded. 

“Easily done,” Thor said with a grin. “Moving on.” 

Thor was trying to change the subject quickly to spare Valkyrie further embarrassment. Loki didn’t miss the thankful smile that she shot Thor. Maybe they would come to their senses in something slightly less than a century. Loki scoffed at himself inwardly. One good rut and he was turning into a romantic. 

“Loki,” Eir started and he suddenly found all eyes on him. Well this was never good. “I know you were reluctant, but I hoped we might once again address you teaching those students as I suggested.” 

Loki sat up in his chair and put his feet on the floor, feeling oddly formal. “Yes, well, actually I did speak to their parents. I’m scheduled to start lessons with Gunnar and Runa this afternoon.” The matching looks of shock on everyone’s faces weren’t particularly flattering, but they weren’t unexpected either. 

Truth be told, Loki was more than a little surprised himself. He had spoken to the parents first, half certain that they would run him out of their rooms for even suggesting such a thing. They had questions and concerns, certainly, but more around what Loki would be teaching and when. How tiring the work would be and if it would interfere in the children’s regular studies. Gunnar’s parents seemed completely unconcerned that their son would be taught magic, by the deviant, frost giant brother of the King no less. Loki suspected that Eir had talked to them before, but it was still disconcerting. 

“That’s wonderful, Loki. Thank you.” Eir’s pleased smile was mimicked on Thor’s face, which made Loki want to throw something at him. But instead he just dipped his head in acknowledgement and decided that examining his fingernails was the best use of his time. 

The rest of the meeting went smoothly with no more awkwardness on Loki’s part. He gave his opinions when applicable and kept his trap shut otherwise. All in all, he gave the impression of maturity, something he usually tried to avoid. Oh well, he’d find something annoying for the next council meeting when he was feeling less serene. 

Thor couldn’t possibly leave well enough alone, and cornered Loki as they were all leaving the meeting. 

“Something’s different about you.” He accused. 

“Can’t I just be in a good mood, brother?” Loki asked. 

“I still have nightmares about the last time you were in a good mood.” Thor shuddered. Loki grinned, the dragon had been rather fun. 

“I suppose I am just feeling content. No mischief necessary.” Loki wasn’t sure he had ever said anything approximating that sentiment before. Thor too looked dubious. 

“What happened to satisfaction not being in your nature?” He asked. 

Loki frowned remembering that conversation. It was likely still true. Nothing good had ever really lasted for him. No lover, no plans. Even when he got what he intended, he always found that it wasn’t what he actually wanted. Sooner or later, he would find a way to screw this up or he would just find that it didn’t work for him anymore. Then where would he be? 

“Don’t misunderstand me, brother.” Thor interrupted his spiraling thoughts. When he made eye contact with his brother again, he could see that Thor looked concerned about where his mood had abruptly gone. “I’m glad to see you happy, I didn’t mean to cast doubt on the reasons.” 

“Don’t be silly, Thor. I do a fine job of that all on my own. If you’ll excuse me I have to prepare for my lessons this afternoon. Me? A teacher? What is this world coming to?” Thor laughed at that, which returned Loki’s smile as well. 

The doubts were still there, but he didn’t have to listen to them. He could enjoy this for what it was at this moment, without relying on it continuing in the future. This little affair with Tony would end eventually and he would move on to the next plan, the next trick and all would be as it should be. 

 

'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'

 

As Loki stared into two pairs of wide, blue eyes, he found that his silvertongue had abandoned him entirely. How the Hel did you talk to children? The young ones were standing in front of him, alert and nervous. Gunnar was the older with bronze hair and a freckled nose. Runa had coppery hair and cheeks still plump with baby fat. He tried to remember Thor and himself when they were young, how Odin and Frigga spoke to them, but couldn’t remember anything specific. So, he defaulted with mostly treating them like adults until he figured out otherwise. 

“Hello, I’m Loki and I’ll be in charge of your magic studies.” 

“Hello Master Loki.” The children chimed together. Which wasn’t creepy at all. 

“You don’t need to call me Master Loki that makes me feel like an old man like my brother. You can call me just Loki.” He said conspiratorially and winked at them. They giggled at that and nodded which gave him the confidence to move on. 

He directed his students to sit on the ground and get as comfortable as possible, he did the same so that he wouldn’t be looming over them. After a few minutes of adjusting their posture, he began. 

“I’m sorry to say that we won’t be getting to the fun things for a while yet. I know when I was where you are I wanted to go straight to throwing fire, right?” More giggling. “But you have to learn to walk before you can run, you have to learn your forms before you can start with the sword. In magic, you need to start with a clear mind before you can make anything happen. For that, we meditate.” 

Loki took the two through different breathing exercises, chiding them gently when they fidgeted or got distracted. Finally, their half hour was up and he helped them to their feet after sitting for so long. 

“That was rather boring, right?” They nodded cautiously as if they were afraid to offend him. He pulled an exaggerated sad face. “I know. But it is very necessary. Just think about this. What if you wanted to do something like move that chair over there?” Loki pointed to the desk chair in the corner of the room and it hovered off the ground a few inches. “But while you were concentrating on the chair you suddenly wonder what your mother is making for dinner?” He turned the chair into a loaf of bread. The children laughed in delight and clapped. “It is funny now, but when you are working with dangerous elements or perhaps trying to heal someone, it could get someone, especially you, very hurt. So, it is very important that we get this part right before we move on to any of the fun stuff. Understand?” 

“Yes,” Runa piped in her adorably small voice. Gunnar, far more softspoken just nodded. 

“However, since I want to give you a reason to come back each week, I promise to show you something fun at the end of every lesson as a reward for good behavior. I will only do this if you try your very hardest, though.” 

“So, if we can’t do it, we don’t get to see any tricks?” Runa asked. 

“Well no, this isn’t about whether you can meditate or not. No one gets there on their first try. What matters is that you gave it your best. Did you?” Loki asked. Runa nodded. “I thought so too. What would you like to see? Gunnar?” 

“I heard that you can make yourself look like different people. Can you show us that?” Gunnar said in a voice just louder than a whisper. 

Loki could guess that their parents had probably mentioned this and likely not in the most glowing of terms, but there was no harm in showing the children. It wasn’t like it wasn’t common knowledge already. 

“Of course, I just want to warn you, no matter how good you two get at magic, this may be something that you cannot do. Not everyone can shapeshift, it’s a particular talent of mine. But you may get good enough that you can create an illusion around you that makes it appear as if you’ve shapeshifted. I’ll show you the difference sometime later. For now…” 

Loki smiled and shifted. He didn’t get much taller, but his shoulders widened. His hair got shorter and suddenly he was looking at the world through a single eye. He projected the illusion of Thor’s usual armor and eyepatch onto himself and grinned at the children. 

“I am Thor, son of Odin and God of Thunder. I’m here to check on you poor children to make sure my tricky little brother is behaving himself.” Loki said with Thor’s voice, maybe a bit more booming and overblown than usual. It was his bit after all. The children giggled and clapped, so Loki bowed before shifting back to himself. 

“All right, it’s time to go back home. I will see you at this same time next week. Please make sure to practice meditating for a few minutes before bed every night until then.” The children nodded and then went running out the door. 

“Bye Master Loki!” Runa called on her way out. Loki scowled. How good of a teacher could he possibly be if they ignored the very first thing he taught them? 

Still, the whole thing went far better than Loki had thought. He had been so worried that he wouldn’t have any patience. That the dark voice would whisper to him when the children couldn’t sit still, as all children were want. But there was nothing, not a peep. He might actually be able to do this. He was elated and there was only one person that he wanted to share it with. He tapped his tracking spell and determined that Stark was sitting on his couch. 

Loki teleported himself straight into Stark’s lap. The billionaire yelped, but his hands went immediately for Loki’s waist. 

“Hello Stark,” Loki said and leaned down to claim his lips with a kiss, grinding just a bit on the man’s hips and grinning when he could feel Stark start to respond. 

“Uh, hi Loki.” Stark said a bit awkwardly. “Pep, this is Loki.” 

Loki didn’t even turn around. Of course he would do this twice in a row. He seriously had the worst luck. 

“I swear I am generally better about being stealthy.” He said in a murmur that only Stark could hear. 

Stark gave him a disbelieving look. “You interrupted your diabolical plans to get a group of people together in the middle of a street in Germany to have them all kneel for you.” 

“That was part of my plan to get captured, and you know it!” Loki affected more dismay than he was actually feeling at the moment. 

“How about using my big, obvious tower for your invasion?” Stark smirked. Loki scowled but said nothing. He really didn’t have any arguments for that one. 

Loki figured he would have to face this eventually. Pepper Potts was Stark’s closest confidante and he needed to try to salvage this first encounter as much as possible. He smoothly got off Stark’s lap, chuckling a bit at the grunt he got from the man in question. He turned and held out his hand to the beautiful woman looking at him doubtfully. She extended her hand as if for a handshake, but he took it, bowed over it slightly and kissed the top chastely. 

“A pleasure to meet you, my lady.” He said, giving her his best courtly smile. 

Pepper laughed as she pulled her hand back and turned to Stark. “You weren’t kidding.” 

Loki looked at him as well, questioningly. “Pepper’s worked with me for years, even dated me. She’s immune to even the most potent charm.” Stark said. 

“I meant no disrespect Ms. Potts. I was just greeting you as your station deserves.” Loki said, trying to recover. 

“Sure, you didn’t.” Pepper said doubtfully, but she was still smiling. “I can certainly see how you got his attention.” 

“He was my knight in shining armor.” Stark interjected as he got up and grabbed Loki’s waist in a one-armed hug. Loki had to fight not to squirm out of the casual affection. His discomfort must have shown on his face because Pepper homed in seriously. 

“I hope you’re planning on sticking around.” Pepper said sternly. “Tony seems quite attached.” 

“Hey, he’s not a pet!” Stark protested. 

“As long as Stark sees fit to have me.” Loki responded seriously, off guard by the sudden change of tone. 

“Good. I don’t care if you’re a god or magician or whatever, if you hurt Tony you’ll wish it was the Hulk who got a hold of you again. Do we understand each other?” Pepper’s tone was deadly serious and demanded a straight answer. 

“Absolutely.” Loki said immediately. 

“Good.” Pepper said and just like that she was smiling again. “Have fun boys. Tony, please make sure to actually read through that contract before you sign it.” 

“Why would I waste my time? You’ve already read it.” Tony responded easily. 

“Yes, but even I can make mistakes.” Pepper said. 

Stark scoffed. “I’ll believe it when I see it.” 

“Will that be all, Mr. Stark?” Pepper said in a tone that indicated this was a familiar ritual. 

“That’s all, Ms. Potts.” Stark grinned and waved as Pepper went out the door. 

“That’s Pepper,” Stark said fondly. 

“I’m fairly sure that woman was a Valkyrie in another life. She’s terrifying.” Loki said honestly, reminded of the Shakespeare quote, ‘Though she be but little, she is fierce,’ but Stark just chuckled. 

“You’re lucky I had already told her about you or that encounter probably would have gone far worse.” 

“Lucky me,” Loki agreed weakly. 

“So, to what do I owe this unexpected gift of your company so soon?” Tony asked and reminded Loki why he was here. 

“I was just in a good mood and knew exactly what I wanted to do with it.” Loki grinned lecherously. 

“Hey, I did warn you before. Don’t fall in love with me.” 

“Oh please, Stark. You are acceptably good in bed and you feed me far better than they do in New Asgard, but don’t start thinking you’re special.” 

“Ouch,” Stark grabbed his heart. “You are using me for food and sex. That’s just cold.” 

“Does that mean that we aren’t about to have sex? Should I go find someone else to share my evening?” Loki asked, eyebrow raised. 

“Do I look like an idiot? Use me, baby.” So, Loki took him at his word.


	10. What's Gone and What's Past Help Should be Past Grief

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! I seriously did not expect that level of teacher-Loki love! I debated that angle hard and I am so gratified by the results! I've already re-written some of the chapters to expand on that angle, including this one, so I hope you enjoy!

Loki had just teleported into his room when there was a knock at the door. Flustered, he looked over at the wall clock. He wasn’t late to his lesson, he still had ten minutes to go. Runa had been known to come looking for him if he was even a minute late. That girl was seriously keeping him on his toes the last few months. Both she and Gunnar were progressing far faster than he had anticipated. 

“Yes?” He called out, looking in the mirror to make sure there weren’t any bruises he needed to put illusions over. That man had an annoying attachment to marking his neck. They faded after an hour or so, but that didn’t stop Tony from trying. 

“It’s Thor.” 

“Can this wait, Thor? I’m on my way out to my lesson.” Loki called. 

“I’ll walk with you.” Thor insisted. Loki rolled his eyes, since Thor couldn’t see anyways. But he had to admit, he hadn’t seen Thor often the last few months. Not that he would go so far as to say he missed the oaf, but his company wasn’t completely unwanted. Loki grabbed his notes and then pulled open the door. He gave his brother a smile as he closed the door behind him and Thor looked instantly dubious. Really, since when was a smile considered suspicious? 

“I haven’t seen much of you lately, brother.” Thor said as they started walking. 

“Well, I’ve upped my lessons with Gunnar and Runa to twice a week. They have been far more eager than I could have hoped. I’ve also been training with Eir to improve my healing.” That hadn’t been going nearly as well. It seemed that he had developed a bit of a mental block against improvement in that arena. It had been a long time since he had to work so hard at anything with his magic. 

“Indeed?” Thor asked. 

“Yes, someone has to make sure you don’t accidentally kill yourself.” Loki teased. 

“Of course, if I die you want to make sure that you intended it so.” 

“Exactly.” Loki finished. Look at them, actually joking about killing one another, as if it wasn’t just a few years ago Loki had fully meant it. 

“I’ve noticed that there hasn’t been any sort of mischief about my person for the last few weeks. Are you trying to lull me into a false sense of security?” Thor asked. 

Loki hummed noncommittally. “I never would have thought of that.” He said far too casually. He really hadn’t been keeping up appearances very well. Between teaching and his own learning, taking the supply organization from Thor and sneaking in time whenever he could with Stark, he hadn’t had much time to inconvenience his brother. He would need to come up with something good soon, not too soon though or it might seem like he was doing it just because Thor said something. 

“How goes the construction of the school building?” Loki asked, trying to very obviously change the subject. 

Thor chuckled at the maneuver. “Very well, looks like they will be done next week. Are all the furniture and supplies in?” 

Loki nodded. “It’s all being stored in the spare pantry off the dining hall for now, but I’ve done the inventory, it’s all there.” 

“Well then, in just a few weeks you’ll have your own classroom.” Thor clapped Loki on the shoulder and Loki stumbled and missed a few steps. 

“Well, that’s just…odd.” Loki admitted. 

“Any stranger than me having an office?” Thor asked. 

“Nothing is stranger than that.” Loki laughed and finally they were in front of the store room that he had been using for the last two months as a classroom. “Oh, brother, I meant to ask, would you like to spar tomorrow morning?” Tony would be traveling for business for the next few days, hence his leaving the tower so late, so Loki wanted to distract himself. 

Thor’s grin was so wide Loki could swear the light in the hall brightened by several shades. His lips seemed to want to curl up as well in answer, for once he acquiesced. “I would enjoy that greatly brother! I will see you at dawn!” Thor started walking away. 

“Eight a.m. and not a minute before!” Loki called after him, but Thor just laughed. 

Loki was still a few minutes early, but he entered the room to two expectant faces anyways. Damn if that smile didn’t just stay on his face. They had moved on to their first steps of practicing magic, specifically elemental conjuring, like making flame. It was easy in concept but exhausting to manage. The expectant faces quickly turned to concentration and then frustration. He tried to keep their spirits up, it had taken him weeks before he’d been able to successfully conjure a flame, and that had been in pure desperation. 

Loki was adjusting Gunnar’s stance from behind the boy when he noticed a tell-tale shaking of the shoulders. The child was crying; it was most likely from frustration, but it still broke Loki’s heart a bit to see. His first impulse was to ignore it, to give the boy his space and dignity, but a little voice in his head, one that sounded suspiciously like his mother, told him that wasn’t the right call. So, instead, Loki walked around to sit on his heels in front of Gunnar until they were mostly face to face. 

The boy’s face was scrunched up in frustrated concentration even as tears were running down his cheeks. His hands were cupped in front of him, his arms rigid with tension. 

“Gunnar,” Loki whispered, not wanting to draw Runa’s attention towards the crying boy. 

Gunnar ignored Loki and concentrated on his hands even more. The stubbornness made Loki want to smile, but it wasn’t the time. He made calming, shushing noises until Gunnar finally made eye contact. The boy was embarrassed, but Loki just smiled at him. 

“Why are you crying?” Loki asked. 

Gunnar sniffled. “It’s been two weeks; I can’t do it. You’re going to stop teaching me.” 

The boy was actually crying because he thought that he wouldn’t be attending lessons with Loki anymore. Loki’s eyes widened before he could think to control his face. But this wasn’t about him, it was about Gunnar. 

“Now why would you think that?” Loki asked, affecting a stern face. “Have I been mean to you? Have I told you ‘Do this or you’re out of here?’” 

Gunnar shook his head, bottom lip protruding in a pout. 

“Good, because I believe if I did your mother would have a few words for me.” More than a few words actually, the woman could talk and that was coming from the Silvertongue. That lightened the pout just a bit. “If I tell you a secret, will you promise not to tell anyone?” 

Gunner’s eyes were like dinner plates at the question, he leaned in closer to Loki and whispered. “Even Runa?” 

Good point, that was probably unfair. He couldn’t let either of his students think he was playing favorites. Loki leaned in closer. “I think she’ll want to hear this, as long as she can keep a secret, too. Can I call her over?” 

The boy’s tears had mostly dried up by this point, but Gunnar looked dubious for a moment. Then he wiped at his cheeks a few times before nodding his assent. 

“Runa,” Loki called. “Come here for a moment.” 

The little girl shot Loki an annoyed look for interrupting her and Loki couldn’t help his snicker. She did walk over quickly enough though. 

“I want to tell you both a secret, but you have to swear not to tell anyone else.” Loki said. Runa looked excited, Gunnar still looked awed. 

Gunnar nodded as Runa said, “I swear.” 

Loki sat down on the ground as his calves started to ache and he gestured for the children to do the same. “When I was learning magic, I wasn’t a very good student; nothing like you two.” Understatement of the year, he’d been obnoxious. He was fairly sure that the only reason his teacher hadn’t killed him was that she happened to be his mother. 

“But I still really wanted to learn magic so when I was trying to bring fire I put all of my energy and all of my concentration into it. For four weeks I spent hours trying to make fire and couldn’t even bring a spark. It took a pitch-dark cave and an angry bildgesnipe for me to finally show any progress.” No need to go into all the details of that encounter. But the children looked impressed enough. “I’m not going to stick you in the dark with any sort of danger though. There’s no rush to this; it will happen when it happens and then we will move on. Got it?” 

Runa replied in the affirmative and looked over at Gunnar who nodded hesitantly. The girl suddenly leaned over and pulled Gunnar into a fierce hug. Loki blinked at them for a few moments, stunned. His students had always gotten along, but he had never had the indication that they were anything beyond distantly friendly. They were different ages, different genders and naturally didn’t tend towards the same circles. The easy affection of Runa’s hug baffled Loki; it was something he couldn’t manage with his own brother. 

“We’ll do this, Gunnar. You and me.” Runa said certainly before lowering her voice in a conspiratorial whisper that Loki could absolutely hear. “And we’ll do it faster than he could.” 

Gunnar put his hand over his mouth to muffle his snort of laughter, but Runa just looked at Loki cheekily. 

Loki just raised an eyebrow at her. “Better get to work then. If you want to get away with saying that, you have to make those words the truth.” 

Runa grinned as Gunnar helped her up and they immediately went back into their stances. 

As a special treat at the end, he showed them both skywalking. Basically, it was the ability to specifically harden certain sections of the air around him to then use to cross over distances. What made it more exciting for them was it was something they could feel for themselves. Soon the three of them were hopping around in midair, Loki laughing almost as much as Gunnar and Runa were. When they left, the smiles were back on their faces. 

Loki was cleaning up some of the stuff they had knocked over in their travails when a clearing throat startled him. He turned to see Eir hovering in the doorway. 

“How long have you been there?” He snapped without thinking, disliking the idea of having been watched for an unknown amount of time. At Eir’s disappointed frown, he quickly edited. “I’m sorry, you startled me. I hope I haven’t kept you waiting long?” 

“Clever boy,” Eir smiled though. “Long enough to catch the end of your lesson.” 

“I didn’t see you there.” Which was not something that normally got by him; he was obviously letting his guard down far too often lately. 

“No, I believe you were having far too much fun.” 

“It had been a frustrating lesson, we’ve been working on conjuring fire for several sessions with no progress. They needed some positive reinforcement.” Loki said, more than a little defensively. 

Eir held her hands up in surrender. “No judgement here. You’re very good with them, very patient.” 

“Patience is not a virtue that has ever been attributed to me.” Loki said as he tilted the last chair back into its rightful place and joined Eir outside the room. 

“It’s amazing what you learn about yourself when you begin to teach children.” Eir said as they began walking. Loki wasn’t sure where they were walking to, just that it felt more comfortable than standing. 

Loki just hummed in response. He hadn’t really thought about it, but he supposed that patience had been surprisingly easy to come by these days. Now that he thought about it, meditating and keeping a calm mind had been far easier as well. He couldn’t think of the last time he had truly lost his temper. Even when he argued with Stark, it was more for fun than anything else, for the excitement, the challenge. And for the making up, of course. 

“So, are you just here to give me embarrassing compliments?” Loki asked. 

“Yes, mostly.” Loki laughed in surprise and Eir seemed pleased. “Truth be told, I was spying on you. I was curious how you had taken to teaching as you are a much better student now than you were at their age.” 

“I’m not sure it’s spying when you inform your target. I suppose I should probably apologize for how awful I was to you back then.” 

“But you won’t. It isn’t in your nature. You just make up for it now.” Eir said and Loki suddenly wondered how this woman could possibly understand him so well. Before New Asgard, he didn’t believe he had spoken more than a dozen words to her in the centuries since his disastrous time as her student. Then again, she had been quite close to Frigga. As if she had read his mind, she began speaking again. “Frigga would be so proud of you and your brother. How you’ve both grown individually and together.” 

Loki had to look away and blink a couple of times. Some of Odin’s last words came to him again. ‘Frigga would have been proud.’ Odin had known that was the best compliment that he could give; Eir apparently knew as well. If only he could have made her proud when she was alive; if only he hadn’t betrayed her right before her death. He had gotten some form of closure in that alternate timeline. It had still been Frigga, he had been able to apologize, but it wasn’t the same. 

It was something he and Stark had talked about rather recently. Tony too had lost both his parents, though it had been a long time ago now. He too had things he wished he had done differently in their last conversations. He too had unresolved issues with his father. It was quite interesting how much they truly had in common. It had been a rare insight that hadn’t been the result of or resulted in an argument. Even then, Loki knew he hadn’t gotten the whole story. Stark had said his parents had died in a car crash, but there was something in his eyes that said that the true tale was far more complicated. Loki hadn’t pushed though. He didn’t deserve to unless he was willing to share everything with Tony himself; he wasn’t sure if he’d ever be ready for that. 

“I’m sorry, it wasn’t my intention to distress you.” Eir said, placing a consoling hand on his arm. Loki immediately took her hand from his arm, but he brought it to his lips. 

“You haven’t, I was just musing on…well many things. I very much appreciate your words. Coming from a true friend of Mother’s, it means a lot.” 

“I do hope that if you have anything that troubles you, perhaps something you would like an outside perspective on that you will consider coming to me. It is the least I can do for my friend.” Eir smiled at him and Loki saw something of his mother in it; he returned the smile gratefully. Not really trusting his voice at the moment, he just nodded. Eir, intelligently sensing the moment, bid him farewell and headed in the opposite direction towards her quarters. Loki walked back to his own rooms in a daze. 

 

'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'

 

Tony had a nice surprise waiting for him upon his return from London in the form of Bruce Banner. It wasn’t as nice of a surprise as it would have been if it had been Loki, naked, in his bed, but he’d take it. 

“Hey Brucie! Long time no see! Well, not that long actually, considering…” Yeah, Tony decided he should probably shut up. Bruce knew what he meant though and just smiled. 

“Good to see you too, Tony. They’ve been keeping me busy upstate; haven’t seen you up there much lately.” 

“Yeah, well, you know how it is. Apparently when your name is on the company headquarters they actually want you do to work and stuff.” Tony said, avoiding the real answer entirely. “Everyone doing good?” 

“Yeah, Vision’s still Vision. I keep expecting there to be some negative consequences from destroying the Mind Stone but so far so good.” Actually, that brought up something that Tony had been thinking about. Loki had mentioned Thanos wanting the Infinity Stones, then all of a sudden Bruce shows up and they have a plan to separate Vision from the Mind Stone and destroy it. 

“Why were you so hell bent on destroying the Mind Stone? Where’d you come up with the idea of separating them in the first place?” Tony asked. 

And there it was. Bruce looked really uncomfortable. Yep, Loki. 

“Well, Thor and I were talking about it on our way back. With the Tesseract having been destroyed on Asgard it seemed like a good idea to make sure no one comes looking to Earth for more power.” Bruce said. Sure, Thor came up with that. 

“You mean like Loki and the Tesseract?” Tony prodded, cause he was a dick and couldn’t help himself. He hadn’t really talked about Bruce with Loki thus far. He knew Bruce had to know that Loki was alive but beyond that he couldn’t really picture them interacting much. Especially with the big Hulk/Loki showdown in New York. Tony didn’t see the god as being at all comfortable around the scientist. 

“Exactly. Thor mentioned that Loki had spoken about someone who showed him the power of the Tesseract, it wasn’t all his idea. Who knows who could be out there waiting to come for more Infinity Stones?” 

Tony smiled. Was that Bruce sowing the seeds of doubt about Loki’s evilness? Hmmm, he was going to have to talk to Loki about his interactions with Bruce. Maybe they could actually stop hiding in the near future. Tony was a bit surprised at how much he wanted that to happen. He tried to picture the Avenger’s faces when he announced he was boinking the God of Mischief, Thor’s brother, the crazy guy who tried to invade New York. Crap, there was Thor to consider. He couldn’t imagine the god would be anything less than an overprotective big brother when it came down to it. Maybe they should keep it under wraps for a bit longer. 

When Tony’s attention came back to the present, Bruce was giving him a weird look. He deflected with a smile and a laugh and led Bruce down to the lab to show the scientist what he was working on. Bruce had actually come just to catch up, not for anything he needed, which touched Tony more than he wanted to admit. He realized he should do a better job himself of checking in. He had kind of been in LokiLand for a few months now and while immensely satisfying, it wasn’t everything. 

All said, when Bruce left a few hours later Tony was feeling really good. His mood improved significantly when not five minutes after his friend left, a certain god of mischief appeared on the couch in the lab that Tony was starting to think of as Loki’s. 

“Good timing, Bambi! You just missed Bruce.” Tony said and walked over for a kiss. He leaned over and what he had intended on being a soft peck hello turned into something far deeper when the god’s tongue demanded entrance. Tony pulled away reluctantly, wanting to catch up a bit and get some food in him before any strenuous activities. He laughed at Loki’s little growl of frustration. 

“It was not good timing. I am capable of learning my lesson.” Loki scowled. 

“So, you can tell if someone else is in the room before you pop in?” Tony asked curiously. 

“No,” Loki admitted. “But I can teleport in invisibly and check for others before I make myself known.” 

“So, you were spying on us? For how long?” Tony asked, a bit skeeved by the thought. 

“I checked about twenty minutes ago and left. I just checked in again moments before I showed myself to you, once I had seen that Bruce had left. I wouldn’t spy on you.” Loki assured him, and Tony believed him; which was seriously weird. Yet, thus far, he hadn’t caught Loki in any lies. There had been no end to the half-truths and secrets, which Tony didn’t have to like to understand. But thus far no outright lies since their whole Angelica blow out. But Loki bringing up Bruce, gave Tony the perfect opening. 

“So, what’s the deal with you and Bruce?” Tony asked. 

“The deal?” Loki repeated skeptically. 

“Yeah, I mean, I assume he knows you’re alive?” 

“Yes…” Ugh, it was like pulling teeth to get information out of Loki sometimes. 

“So, is he going to freak when it inevitably all comes out that you and I…” Tony trailed off not entirely sure how to describe what he and Loki had. Screwing seemed like not enough and relationship seemed far too formal. 

“Why should that come out?” 

“Well, we’re not going to be hiding this forever, right?” Loki’s look told Tony that he saw no reason why they couldn’t. Tony sighed, this really wasn’t time for the relationship talk. He was too tired and hungry anyways. “Nevermind.” 

Tony walked over to the couch and collapsed into the smooth leather. He leaned his head on the back cushions and rested his hand on Loki’s knee comfortably. Instantly, Loki flinched away, adjusting his knee so that it was out of Tony’s reach. 

“Ok, why do you always do that?” Tony burst out before he could think better of it, the rejection getting the better of him. 

“Do what?” Loki asked, his face the picture of innocence. Tony had forgotten just how infuriatingly punchable that face was. 

“Don’t play coy. You’ll kiss, you’ll grope, you’ll fuck, but seriously the most casual touch and you freak out.” 

“I don’t freak out.” Loki denied. “I just don’t understand why everyone feels the need to touch people all the time. When it’s for sex it has a purpose, otherwise it’s just…” Loki actually shuddered. 

“You mean, like never? It’s not just me, you don’t casually touch anyone?” That was interesting, actually. Tony had taken it personally, it never occurred to him that it wasn’t about him. 

“Not if I can avoid it, no.” 

“What about Thor? He’s all about the hugs and manly pats on the back.” 

“Not with me, he isn’t. He learned that lesson long ago.” Loki’s smile was so sharp it could cut steel. “I don’t understand the problem, Stark. Why do you need to touch me if we aren’t about to have sex?” 

“It’s not like that, it’s about, closeness, intimacy. It’s what you do in a relationship.” Loki’s nose wrinkled a bit at the word relationship and damn it, apparently, they were going to have this talk. “You can’t seriously tell me that this never came up in any of your past relationships.” 

“What past relationships?” 

“Seriously? None?” Tony was a little blown away. Sure, he had a grand total of one past relationship, but Loki had been at this infinitely longer than Tony. 

“Can you honestly picture me in a relationship, Stark?” Loki said dismissively. Actually, yes, Tony absolutely could, with him in fact. “Even if that was in my nature, who would have me for longer than a night or few? Even before the coronation I was just the little brother, the shadow, the unmanly trickster. I was good enough for a curiosity fuck or as a consolation to someone who wanted to land a prince and couldn’t get Thor’s attention, but a relationship?” Loki laughed coldly. 

Wow, that was, a lot to unpack. Tony was definitely not qualified for this. One failed relationship made him far from an expert, but he couldn’t just leave this lying. He knew what Loki would respond to, so he grabbed the back of the god’s neck and pulled him in for a kiss. This one was more teeth, almost angry, but Tony tried to imbue it with the passion that he was trying to get across. Next thing he knew he was straddling Loki’s lap and they were grinding together, Loki grabbed his groin and Tony moaned. They were inches from having full-on angry sex in the lab, but that wasn’t where Tony wanted to go with this. He pulled away, ignoring Loki’s frustrated growl as the god tried to pull his head back in to kiss. Tony tried for a little levity. 

“I would never be interested in Thor.” Loki looked at him, confusion breaking through the haze of lust before he chuckled. Then it was like some dam was breaking because the chuckling turned into a full laugh until there were literal tears rolling from Loki’s eyes. “Ok, it wasn’t that funny.” Tony said, a little concerned for his lover’s sanity. 

Tony was just starting to pull away from Loki’s lap, but the god shook his head and settled Tony more comfortably, grunting a bit as their still very interested shafts brushed together. 

“You are the most infuriating mortal I have ever met.” Loki said fondly. “Yet you also seem to know exactly what to say. You are right. This isn’t Asgard. This has nothing to do with Thor. I am uncomfortable with casual contact. I always have been, with my family, with lovers, anyone. I can’t change that overnight, but I promise I will try to do better.” 

Loki put his hands on the sides of Tony’s face and pulled him in for a soft, sweet kiss. 

“Well, that’s half of it right there.” Tony said. 

Loki frowned, “Half?” 

“Well, we’ve kinda been avoiding the whole relationship talk. It has been months. You pop in whenever you feel like it, we have fun, we talk, we have sex, but are we together? Are we exclusive?” Ugh, Tony was a guy. He should definitely not be the one instigating this. But Loki was a guy too and apparently even more of a commitment-phobe than Tony, so it was up to him. 

“Exclusive? Are you having sex with others? Do you want to?” Loki’s eyes went wide and hurt with that, and well, that was something at least. 

“No! That’s my point. I haven’t, and I don’t want to. I’ve been kind of considering this a relationship in my head, but I have no idea where you are, what you want.” 

“I don’t wish for any others, either, but what would change if we considered this a relationship?” Seriously, it was like talking to a wall. 

“Well, nothing really. We would do all the same things, we would just know it’s a relationship. Generally, you would then describe it that way to other people, but I understand that you don’t think that’s a possibility yet.” 

“So, nothing would change, but you need the definition anyways?” Loki asked, Tony must have look hurt because Loki’s thumb started circling soothingly on his cheek. “I’m sorry, I’m trying to understand. Yes, if it makes you happy, then yes.” 

Loki was agreeing to something he wasn’t entirely comfortable with and didn’t quite understand, just because it would make Tony happy. He was pretty sure he couldn’t ask for more than that. 

“Ok,” Tony said getting up out of Loki’s lap. “I’m starving. I am going to have a steak and a beer before I turn even more into a girl.” 

Loki frowned at him in confusion, obviously not understanding the correlation, but followed him upstairs anyways. 

They talked idly while waiting for the food to be delivered. Loki talked about his students, something that never failed to put the god in a good mood. Tony could admit, if only to himself, that it did some really fluttery things in his stomach when Loki glowed with pride like that. Tony filled him in on his business in London. His company was looking to acquire a tech startup that was doing some very interesting things with sustainable energy, they just needed the capital. Which reminded him. 

“So, the arc reactors for Asgard are done.” Tony started. 

“That’s great, we’ll finally start being able to use our own tech instead of this tedious mortal stuff. Thor will be ecstatic.” Tony rolled his eyes at the disdainful tone. “I don’t mean your tech, of course.” Loki corrected with a smile, which shouldn’t have mollified Tony but totally did. 

“As I was saying, I have to come to New Asgard for the install, probably next week” Tony prompted. 

“Yes, I had imagined you would.” Loki wasn’t catching on. 

“So, do I get to see you while I’m there?” Tony asked finally. 

Loki’s face went blank. “That’s not a good idea.” 

“But…” 

“Thor won’t allow it.” Loki said in a very final sounding tone. 

“Fine,” Tony huffed, then as an idea occurred to him, smiled again. Loki looked dubious. “Do I get to see Angelica then?” 

Loki frowned, thinking about it for a moment, before he too broke into a wide grin. “Actually, I think that it is about time; though, you will have to remember to call me Brunnhilde, unfortunately. Do you think you could successfully pretend that we have never met?” 

Tony spluttered, “What do you take me for? Of course, I can! I do still get to flirt with you, right?” 

“Would you be Tony Stark otherwise?” Loki practically cackled. He was maybe enjoying this a little too much. 

“Ok, what am I missing? You seem way too pleased about this.” 

“You will show up and flirt with the obviously attractive sorceress you’ve heard so much about, because you have no idea that it is Thor’s little brother. I will flirt back, knowing full well who you are. Thor will know that I am specifically flirting with you just to annoy him, but he won’t be able to say anything without you thinking he’s gone crazy.” 

“You are truly devious. It’s incredibly hot.” Tony admired, leaning in to steal a kiss. “Poor Thor, how did he ever survive a childhood with you?” 

“He’s surprisingly hardy, takes a blade like a champion.” Loki said, taking a bite of his steak. 

They finished up dinner and Tony stood up to clear the plates. When he leaned over Loki to grab his plate, he put his hand casually on Loki’s shoulder. He flinched instinctively, but quickly put his opposite hand over Tony’s and smiled at him apologetically. Tony smiled back hesitantly feeling bad about making Loki so uncomfortable. 

It wasn’t until Tony was dumping the dishes in the sink that something very concerning occurred to him. He was actually intimately familiar with this behavior. He walked back into the dining room and Loki was still sitting down, drinking his red wine. Apparently, the beer on Earth was so terrible as to be undrinkable, so he generally went with wine instead. Tony sat down restraining an anticipatory wince as to how this was probably going to go. 

“I’m probably pressing my luck here, but I have a question about this whole touching thing.” Tony started. 

“You may ask.” Loki said formally, showing his discomfort clearly. 

“I get the whole, not liking to be touched thing, but have you always flinched like that? I mean, it looks more like you are expecting to get hurt, rather than just being uncomfortable with it.” 

Loki’s blank faces were now something that Tony could mostly read. This one said that Tony was on to something that Loki did not want to talk about because it would reveal some vulnerability. 

“Hear me out. I was captured by a terrorist group in Afghanistan, god was it really ten years ago now? Geez, I’m getting old. Anyways, they wanted me to make a weapon for them. When I said no, they tortured me.” Tony looked at Loki’s face at those words. Absolutely nothing, the man could have been marble. So, this wasn’t a surprise to him. Tony guessed that it had come up before, which made him more certain about his theory. “I was there for three months, but it was a lot longer than that before I was really comfortable with other people, well really anyone other than Pepper, but especially people I didn’t know, touching me.” 

Loki nodded. He took a deep breath before he spoke, Tony listened with rapt attention. “I appreciate you telling me this, Tony. I am so sorry that happened to you. But I don’t know what you think this has to do with me. I explained this already.” 

Tony clenched his fists by his sides, afraid that if he didn’t he might punch the bastard, which would be counterproductive. After a couple of breaths, he spoke again. “Look, you weren’t surprised by my story. I can take that to mean I told you about it in that other timeline. I’m not completely positive, but the only reason I can see sharing something like that with a guy that I didn’t know very well by that point was if they had been through something similar. I've been woken up by your nightmares; I know that you are terrified of Thanos; you’ve already alluded to him persuading you. Can you just let me in? Just this little bit?” 

“What would that accomplish?” Loki said, sounding incredibly tired. 

“This is part of the whole relationship deal. You share things about your past, about your insecurities and issues so that the other person knows you better, can treat you better and can help you through things.” 

“But it is in the past, nothing you say will erase it. My telling you won’t stop the nightmares.” Loki said, then as he so often did to separate himself from what was being discussed, quoted someone, probably Shakespeare. “What is past is prologue.” 

“Not entirely, no, but it does help. I had nightmares, I had panic attacks, but I talked to people who helped me get through it. Now I rarely have the nightmares and haven’t had a panic attack in years. It does help.” 

Loki looked at him suspiciously, as if Tony was trying to get this information to use against him or for some other nefarious purpose. It hurt. Seriously, they had been together for months now, had been friends before that. Tony hadn’t told anyone but Pepper about him, had hid his existence outside of New Asgard even before they’d become friends. Tony wanted to argue, wanted to vent his frustration, but he knew that it would help nothing. Loki was being difficult enough as it was, so Tony just silently stewed. 

“By your own words, I should already be better. I have already told you about it in the past. Banner even talked to me about it as well.” Tony was about to interject, but Loki stopped him with a hand. “Somehow, it’s almost harder for me to talk about now. It should be easier; I’ve already told you before. I know it will change nothing between us except that you will know me a little better. But as I already told you, I originally did not seek out this relationship because I did not care for the vulnerability I showed you before. I feel like I am giving away a little of my power by handing you this information. I don’t think that you will use it against me in any way, please don’t think I do, but it is still hard.” He looked away then, focusing on the New York skyline. The minutes until he started speaking again felt like an eternity. 

“I didn’t care about your world; I felt mortals were beneath notice. You may have noticed that from some of my speeches when I was here.” Loki looked at Tony from the corner of his eye, his mouth quirked into a bit of a smile. “Hel, I might as well give you the complete story. Thor was about to be crowned king. I didn’t feel he was ready. Moreover, I was furious that Odin was going through with it despite my trying to convince him otherwise. He refused to even recognize my criticisms as anything but jealousy. So, I let a few Frost Giants into Asgard. I knew they would be stopped immediately, but it was enough to delay Thor’s crowning. What was more, Thor’s response finally demonstrated to Odin that he was hot-tempered, rash and war-mongering. But of course, that wasn’t quite enough. I goaded Thor into going to Jotunheim ourselves, despite the Allfather’s command. My plan was to have a guard tell Odin as soon as we got to the Watchtower. We’d be stopped before we ever left, but Odin would know what Thor intended. Of course, the guard didn’t take me seriously and took his sweet time before going to the Allfather. Heimdall too, was too caught up in the fact that he couldn’t see the Frost Giants entering and just let us in. At this point, I tried to persuade Thor to leave, to not start anything, but he couldn’t let it go and we had to fight our way out. Odin did finally come for us, but it was too late, Laufey was demanding war. When we got back to Asgard, Odin banished Thor, a punishment I had never even considered. It was in my arguing with Odin afterwards that he revealed my adoption, that he had taken me to be used as a political pawn. Of course, he chose that conversation to go into the Odinsleep and I was left as acting ruler of Asgard with no resolution. I was also left with four of Thor’s friends and Heimdall deeply distrustful of me. They begged me to bring Thor back, but I knew if I did he would just use the opportunity of Odin’s incapacitation to start up the war. I had my own plan for ending it. I snuck back to Jotunheim to let the Frost Giants in again, but this time with their King, telling him he could kill Odin in his sleep. Heimdall was suspicious that he couldn’t see me in Jotunheim and disobeyed my orders for him not to open the bifrost to anyone but me. He sent the Warriors Three and Sif to Earth to retrieve Thor. I was furious. I was betrayed by those I thought were my friends; I knew my plans would be betrayed by my so-called brother. I’d been lied to my entire life. Let’s just say, I wasn’t thinking particularly clearly and over-reacted. I sent the Destroyer to Earth to stop Thor, knowing that even though Thor didn’t have his powers, the Warriors Three and Sif did and nothing short of that could stop them. I almost killed them in the process; part of me wanted to kill them all for what they’d done. But, I was able to let Laufey and the Frost Giants in and slew them before they could hurt anyone. With Laufey and Heimdall out of the way, I could set the bifrost on Jotunheim, use its power to destroy the whole planet, eliminating that race of monsters, freeing Asgard from potential war and proving I was a worthy son. Clever plan, no?” 

Loki made eye contact with Tony again and saw the wide surprise in his eyes. Loki had alluded to some this before in his explanation of the time jumps, Tony had also gotten the cliffs-notes version from Thor but hearing it this way was a whole different ballgame. He really had been crazy, homicidally crazy and this wasn’t even all of it yet. 

“Of course, Thor had to come back and stop my plans. He had to keep me from proving myself like he had my entire life. I didn’t see it as Thor protecting Jotunheim, as Thor stopping me from doing something I would regret forever. I just saw it as Thor keeping me in my place, under his feet, like he had my entire life; like Odin had set up from the minute he took me. I really wanted to kill him then. We fought, he won of course, and he destroyed the bifrost before it could destroy Jotunheim. The explosion sent us both over the bridge, hanging over the void. Odin had woken up, he caught Thor’s ankle. Thor had Gungnir, Odin’s spear, that I had had been wielding against him and I had grabbed the other end. I looked up at Odin and he was so disappointed. I told him that it was all for him, for Asgard, but he rejected me. I didn’t see anywhere to go from there, anything I could ever do. So, I let go.” 

Loki stopped, picked up the mostly full bottle of wine still on the table and drank straight from it, leaving the words to hang in the air. Fuck. Tony had been prepared for violence, been prepared for torture. He had not been prepared for attempts at regicide, fratricide, genocide and finally, suicide. This was all before Thanos, this wasn’t even what gave him the nightmares, caused him to flinch at the most casual of touches. Tony wasn’t sure he could take any more. 

“Loki,” he started but Loki stopped him. 

“I will never repeat this story again, Stark. Please let me get through it and then you can say all you wish. There isn’t much left anyways.” He sighed, polished off the bottle of wine in a way that would have concerned Tony if he was human. Tony actively tried not to process this information yet, there was more to come. 

“I fell, but I didn’t die like I expected. I can’t really think about that time. ‘O, that way madness lies; let me shun that; no more of that.’ Everything is jumbled, messy. Time, space, color, sound, it was all too much and yet, not there at all. Even if I had been completely sane before I went into the Void, I would have been mad when I was plucked out. I found myself on the Chitauri world, in the hands of the Other. I don’t know if they already had plans for me or if I was just an amusement, but they played with me for months. They tortured me beyond any endurance. I cried out for Thor, Odin, Frigga, anyone, but of course, no one was looking for me. They were well rid of the cuckoo who had pretended to be their prince, who was no longer useful. I had already wanted to die, but now I was being kept alive for some unknown reason. Then Thanos came. They let my body heal then, but just so he could attack my mind. He took the Mind Stone and used it to twist all my already dark thoughts in on themselves. He removed any light he could find so I was just left in the emptiness. When I was his perfect puppet, he put the scepter with the Mind Stone in my hands and sent me to Earth to bring violence and terror; to take for myself a throne, so I could be the equal of my brother, so I could revenge myself on the world he loved more than me. Then I would hold Earth for Thanos and give him the Tesseract and the Mind Stone so that he could have the rest of the Universe for his own.” 

Loki sighed, looking wiped. “So, there it is Stark. Yes, I do know what torture is. My body remembers, but my mind holds it even tighter. I still remember what it was to completely believe that there was nothing left for me in the universe.” He made eye contact again, finally, and he looked, surprisingly, hopeful. “I also know now that isn’t true. I have Thor and I have you. Surprisingly, I have Bruce and Eir and even Gunnar and Runa. I would love to just forget what came before, but I can’t. And now when I look in your eyes, I’ll be able to see it; it will no longer just be in me, in my dreams, but in you as well. I really didn’t want that.” 

“Hey, no. Shhhh!” Tony babbled as he grabbed Loki and pulled him in for a hug. He knew Loki would feel better breaking down if Tony couldn’t see his face, so he just held the god, rocking him a little bit, whispering comforting nonsense, stroking his hair. When Loki seemed to calm a bit, Tony took his hand and led him to the bedroom. 

He removed his clothes, then Loki’s, amazed at how it could be completely non-sexual. Then Tony pulled the god into bed and pasted himself to his back. He wrapped his arms around Loki’s waist and buried his face in the god’s neck. Loki bent his legs, so they were comfortably positioned and put his hands over Tony’s. For the first time Tony could ever remember, he fell asleep completely entwined with another person. And, because of the closeness, he knew that Loki didn’t have any nightmares.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little drama, but mostly fluff and adorableness


	11. Mischief, Thou Art Afoot

When Tony woke up and he was not in a sweaty pile with the God of Mischief, he now knew where to look. Loki had thrown on some pants and was meditating on the floor as he usually did in the morning. He didn’t seem any less relaxed than usual, which Tony took as a good sign. All indications were that Loki had gotten a good night’s sleep. Tony selfishly enjoyed staring at his boyfriend, damn they were in a relationship and Loki was his boyfriend, in the rare moment of tranquility that Loki took for himself every day. 

“Good morning, Stark.” Loki said, but he didn’t open his eyes. 

“How do you do that? I barely moved.” Tony complained. 

“You breathe loudly; the change between sleep and waking is obvious.” 

“I do not!” Tony gasped, and Loki smiled mischievously. He got up off the floor in a motion that was way too smooth for any human to accomplish and walked over to the bed to give him a kiss. 

“Did you sleep well?” Loki asked, politely. Possibly a bit too carefully. 

“Very, what about you?” Tony asked. 

“Better than I have in many years. Thank you.” Loki said, and Tony sensed that was all he had to say on the matter. And really, what more was there to say? Tony wasn’t even sure he wanted to think about it. At the end of the day, he was with Loki. This didn’t change anything. He knew what he was getting into, it wasn’t like he hadn’t known the terrible things Loki was capable of. Then again, it was hard to reconcile that madman with the calm, smiling man who was just meditating in Tony’s room. 

Loki started getting dressed, Tony groaned and fell back into bed. 

“Are you leaving already?” Tony whined. 

“I now have a standing sparring date with my brother.” Loki said. Tony whipped up a mental picture of Thor and Loki going at it in a gladiator ring with knives and sweat and that really shouldn’t be as sexy as it was. 

“Fun,” He said instead of all of the naughty descriptors that were going through his head. Loki was in a hurry so it wasn’t the time. 

 

'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'

 

A week later found Tony on his jet to New Asgard once again. Really, he should have gotten Loki to teleport him over. Of course, that would have required him leaving before Seven a.m. something he was loathe to do for anything, but still. He fiddled with some of the calculations for his anti-magic device. He was pretty sure he had it just about worked out. 

It should generate a field that would act as a sort of null-magic shield. Anything with the energy signature matching Loki’s magic should just stop at the shield. He had a few more tweaks, then all that was left was to get Loki to help him test it. 

There was also the fact that even once he knew it worked on Loki, he had no way to know if all magic was exactly the same as his. He would need access to the Scarlett Witch for any other testing, since Vision didn’t have the Mind Stone any more. Or he would need to find some other magic user. Hadn’t Loki mentioned something about another sorcerer on Earth? The one with the Time Stone? 

Fortunately, Tony wasted enough time that it didn’t seem like too long before he was landing outside of New Asgard. He was astonished at how much had changed in just a few months. It looked like the school building was almost done. Many of the other buildings had gotten finishing touches as well. The streets were all paved now. It was really starting to look like an established city. 

Tony greeted the trio that was walking out to meet him and tried not to grin too hard at the lovely woman accompanying Thor and Heimdall. 

“Point Break! How you been?” Tony asked as he got pulled in to a bear hug. 

“Very well, Stark! I’m very excited to get this project completed! Thank you again for assistance. How have you been?” Thor said, a huge grin on his face. 

“Can’t complain! Hi there, Goldeneyes,” Tony felt like he could be a little dismissive of the guy who committed treason against his boyfriend. Tony wondered if he would ever get over the fact that he could now call Loki his boyfriend. 

Heimdall just nodded solemnly, not taking the bait. 

“And who is this lovely lady?” Tony asked, giving Loki his best grin. 

Loki opened her mouth, but Thor cut in. “This is Brunnhilde, the Asgardian sorceress I told you about, Stark.” 

“Ah yes, I heard a lot about you, nice to meet you Brunnhilde. Weren’t you supposed to be helping me? I was starting to think you were avoiding me specifically. Worried about going toe to toe with the genius, billionaire, playboy philanthropist?” Tony raised his eyebrows challengingly. 

Loki rolled her eyes and once again Tony felt like an idiot for not realizing Loki and Angelica were the same person. Their expressions were precisely the same, even if the face was different. 

“I do apologize, Mr. Stark. I’m afraid I just had more important ways to utilize my time and skills.” Loki said dismissively, completely ignoring Thor’s frown. 

Tony reminded himself that he couldn’t laugh. This was going to be harder than he thought. 

“Well then, I will just have to make sure that you feel like your time isn’t wasted this afternoon. I have a few ideas.” Tony said and presented his arm in a courtly gesture for Loki to take. 

“Oh, I’m sure you do Mr. Stark. The question is, will I believe that these ideas have any merit?” Loki took his arm and they began walking together. 

“Hey Point Break! Think you could grab my stuff? I don’t want to leave the lady unaccompanied.” From this close he could hear Loki chuckle under her breath. Thor, being Thor, good naturedly summoned Heimdall to help him with the equipment and the four of them walked to the main building. 

He and Loki bantered good naturedly until they got into the storeroom where the first arc reactor would be stored, and they could get down to the real work, in more ways than one. 

“I’m sorry, but I don’t believe you. You can’t possibly be Iron Man. It would be a crime to hide that pretty face.” Ok, maybe Loki was laying it on a bit thick, but Tony was going to take what he could get. He could also feel the daggers Thor was staring at Loki behind their backs. 

“It’s all true. I had thought about reconfiguring the mask, so it was see-through, but I thought that might be too much of a distraction for everyone else.” Tony preened. “Then again even on my best day, I can’t hold a candle to your beauty. You are easily the most gorgeous woman I have ever come across. No mortal could possibly hold a candle to you, my goddess.” 

Tony could lay it on thick as well as the next guy. Loki’s beaming smile was certainly payment enough. The barely concealed growl behind them from Thor was just icing on the cake. 

“Well, I would not have believed that a mortal could possess such a silver tongue. You surprise me, Mr. Stark; handsome, smart, well spoken, how is it that no woman has snatched you up yet?” Loki asked. 

“That’s an easy one, I just met the only woman who could possibly get me to commit. Also, my friends call me Tony and I would very much like to consider you a friend.” Tony made the word ‘friend’ sound like it was tantamount to ‘lover’. 

“Tony,” Loki purred, and ok, Tony really needed to get Loki to call him that more often. “I’m honored.” 

Thor cleared his throat behind them, obviously uncomfortable but not knowing how to hide it. 

“Oh, your majesty, are you still here? I’m sorry I must have gotten lost in Mr. Stark’s, excuse me I mean, Tony’s eyes.” Tony looked back at Thor who seemed to be trying to decide between being horrified and furious. “Perhaps you could do Tony and I a favor and go grab one of the conduits to test.” 

“Why don’t you come with me, Brunnhilde?” Thor asked between clenched teeth. 

“Actually, I need an extra pair of hands for this part big guy.” Tony cut in, trying to save Loki from alone time with her brother. Thor just nodded and left quickly. 

Tony burst into laughter as soon as Thor was gone. “Ok, this is just mean, we really need to stop this.” But Tony was wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. 

“Not a chance, Stark. I haven’t tortured Thor for weeks. He can take it.” Loki's bright green eyes weren’t precisely dry either. 

“Ok, but we do actually need to get this work done.” Tony said. 

They were on the floor, shoulder to shoulder, talking and working, nudging and poking each other teasingly when they heard a throat clear behind them again. Thinking it was Thor, Tony just waved over to the side of the room without looking. 

“You can just set it over there, buddy. We’ll grab it in just a sec.” 

“I’m not sure what you would like me to set down,” said a melodic voice that definitely wasn’t Thor’s. 

Loki turned around, caught sight of their visitor, and blushed. Tony realized that it was the first he had ever seen either of Loki’s forms blush. It was actually a little weird. She then got up and curtseyed. Tony turned around to see who was with them and it was the head healer Tony had met at lunch last time, Eir. 

“Lady Eir, have you met Mr. Stark? He is one of Thor’s shield brothers and a technological genius here on Midgard.” 

Tony stood up at that introduction and smiled warmly. He got the sudden impression that Loki wasn’t just saying that in character as the sorceress flirting with the visiting mortal. 

“I have actually, albeit briefly.” Eir answered with an amused smile that Tony couldn’t read. “It’s a pleasure to once again meet you, Mr. Stark. I see that Brunnhilde here holds you in high regard; that is quite unusual for her.” 

Loki blushed again, and Tony couldn’t help but stare, entranced by what that little flush of red did to her complexion. Eir was obviously also someone Loki held in high regard. Tony sensed a bit of a motherly vibe from her. It was obvious that she was fond of Loki, which made Tony immediately fond of her. 

“It is my pleasure, Lady Eir. I swear if one more gorgeous woman comes in here I’m going to go blind from the brilliance and won't be able to get you guys set up.” 

Both Eir and Loki laughed. “Oh, you are a flatterer.” Eir said chidingly. 

“Me? Nah, I’m not that witty. I tell it like it is, my lady.” They were laughing, Eir with a fond hand on Tony’s arm and Loki beaming at him when Thor re-entered, looking more stormy-faced than when he had left, if that was possible. 

“I see your reputation is still well earned.” Thor said grumpily, handing over the conduit. 

“What can I say? The ladies love me?” Tony responded grinning. 

“Well, I suppose I should go so that I do not distract your helper any further.” Eir said, taking Loki’s hand briefly in farewell. There was still a bit of a flinch, but Tony guessed that no one else was able to see it. 

“You should probably take Brunnhilde with you; don’t you have lessons or something?” Thor practically begged Eir. 

“Oh no, the lessons can wait. I can see that Brunnhilde and Mr. Stark here have quite the rapport going, I wouldn’t want to jeopardize this project. Good afternoon, all.” Eir left with a knowing smile that made Tony wonder just how much she knew about his and Loki’s ‘rapport’. 

Tony and Loki spent the next half hour or so trading mooning glances with actually getting work done. Soon the first arc reactor was installed, and it was on to the one that was going in the school building. 

“You go on ahead Brunnhilde, I have some Avengers business I want to talk about with Stark before you get started on the next installation.” Thor said with the fakest smile Tony had ever seen. 

“Avengers business,” Loki repeated dubiously, but she just shrugged an elegant shoulder and walked on ahead. 

“So, what’s up, Point Break?” Tony asked, a little nervously. 

“I just...what I wanted to say was...I mean...” Thor looked completely hopeless, Tony was tempted to help him out, but as it turned out, he just wasn’t that nice. 

“Everything ok, big guy?” He prodded. 

“I just wanted to warn you to be careful with Brunnhilde. Don’t take any of her flirtations seriously.” Thor said finally. 

“Of course, I’m not,” Tony said, and Thor looked at him in surprise. “She’s obviously flirting with me to amuse herself and to bother you. Do you have a thing with her or something? I’ll totally lay off if you do, man.” Yep, it was official; Tony was going to hell. 

Thor looked pained, “No, that isn’t it. She just seems to enjoy making me uncomfortable.” 

“Yeah, women can be seriously vindictive man. So, you don’t care that I’m just harmlessly flirting back, right? Now that you know I’m not taking it seriously. I’m not going to suddenly propose marriage or anything.” Tony tried not to laugh at the kicked puppy look on Thor’s face when he realized he had no further argument he could make. 

“Well, no. I guess there isn’t any harm,” 

“Great! Let's get a move on so you guys can get to the good stuff.” Tony patted Thor’s shoulder consolingly and Thor led him into the room that the arc reactor for the school was going in. 

Loki was already in there, starting to set up the connections. She gave them both a considering eyebrow when they walked in but said nothing. When they started up their flirting again, Thor excused himself for some ‘kingly’ business. 

“So, what did Thor have to say?” Loki asked. 

“He just wanted to warn me not to take any of your flirting seriously. I told him that I could tell you didn’t mean any of it and asked if you were trying to make him jealous because you two had a thing.” Tony explained. 

Loki laughed and pulled Tony over for a quick kiss. “You are definitely my equal.” And wow, that might have been the best compliment Tony had ever gotten. He decided a quick kiss was not enough. 

He pulled Loki up and placed her sitting on the table so that he could more easily claim her mouth. They were kissing for a few minutes when an evil thought came to his mind, making him laugh. Loki looked at him questioningly. 

“I have a really bad idea. How much would Thor lose it if he saw us actually making out? Or would that be going too far? I don’t want to out you to your brother.” 

“Out me?” Loki asked questioningly. 

“You know, give him proof that you like having sex with guys.” 

“Mortals are odd.” Loki looked legitimately confused as to what Tony was referring to. "Such confining stigmas about sexual preference. Thor may not be as creative as I am, but..." Loki trailed off with a grin. Well, huh. That was definitely not what Tony expected. Score One for Asgard. 

“That’s...good.” Was all Tony could manage as he was trying to determine whether the mental pictures that thought was conjuring were sexy or disturbing. 

“Plus, this wouldn’t exactly be the first time he’s walked in on me with another man.” Loki thought about it for a moment and snickered. “It wouldn’t even be the first time he caught me with a shield brother of his.” 

At Tony’s questioning look, Loki reassured him. “It was Fandral; just a one-time thing when we were very drunk.” 

Well, Tony was just learning all sorts of new information here. “Does this mean you're on board or we aren’t going far enough? This conversation took a far different turn than I had anticipated.” 

“Oh, we definitely should. I think we just might break him when he can’t yell at me properly this time.” 

So, they very quickly got the second reactor hooked up; these things were always much smoother going the second time around, plus he had the added motivation of a makeout session with Loki. Then they got back to the groping. Kissing Loki was always amazing, those cool hands and soft lips seemed to hit every nerve exactly right. But Tony had to admit, the anticipation of being caught added an extra excitement, something that turned up the arousal meter and he was going at it a bit harder than he usually would when he knew that sex would not be happening anytime soon. 

When they finally heard the strangled gasp behind them, Loki’s legs were fully wrapped around his waist and Tony’s hand was under her shirt palming a perfectly sized breast. They instantly moved to part, untangling themselves and straightening clothes as if they were embarrassed. Thor’s eyes, when Tony finally looked up at them, looked ready to bug out of his head. 

“Uh, sorry.” Tony finally said. “But we finished up and we were just celebrating.” 

Loki wasn’t able to stifle her laugh at that and Thor shot her a murderous look. It shut her up surprisingly quickly. Ok, big brother could be scary when he really wanted to be. Good to know. 

“In that case, Brunnhilde, don’t you have other tasks to accomplish?” Thor asked. Perhaps sensing that she had tried his patience enough for one day, Loki acquiesced. 

“Of course, your majesty. Tony, it was lovely to meet you. I hope that I will see you again someday.” Loki nodded to Tony and walked out. 

“Not likely,” Thor muttered under his breath. Tony didn’t smile since he was obviously not supposed to hear that. 

Now it was Thor and Tony alone in a storeroom which was super awkward. 

“So, looks like you guys are good to go!” Tony said, trying to focus on the positive. 

“Yes, I cannot thank you enough for all your help, Stark. Truly, I we couldn’t have done this without you.” Thor said, calming. Suddenly, Tony felt about an inch tall. He’d been helping Loki torture the poor guy all day and still Thor managed to be sincerely grateful. 

“No sweat, Point Break. You let me play with one of your batteries and gave me all sorts of ideas. We’re square.” Tony shrugged awkwardly. 

“Let me help you get everything back to your plane.” Thor offered and started picking up bags of tools. Tony put everything together and walked with him. 

“Stark, I’ve been meaning to ask. Have you heard signs of any trouble?” Thor asked. 

“Sure, there’s always trouble, what kind do you mean?” 

“Anything from beyond Earth?” Thor asked. Oh, this was about Thanos. 

“Not that I’ve gotten word on. I’m tapped into a few satellites, so hopefully I’ll know if any big spaceships come around. I spotted you guys days before you actually hit ground. Since I’m guessing the Tesseract is out of commission, we don’t have to worry about any portals?” 

“Yes, they would only be able to come by ship at this point.” 

“Do you have anyone specific in mind? Something you want me to look for?” 

“No, I just hope you will keep me apprised. I may be king here, but I still feel honor bound to protect Earth, even more so now that my people are here.” Thor looked pensive. 

“You’ll be the first person I call, seriously Buddy. We’ve missed you around here.” Tony said honestly. That made Thor smile a bit. 

“I have missed you as well.” He responded and now they were back at Tony’s plane. “It was good to see you again, Stark. Now I have some business to go take care of.” 

Tony was pretty sure that the business Thor needed to take care of was kicking his little brother’s ass, but he let it go. Loki could take care of himself or herself as the case may be. He couldn’t wait to hear all about it later. Tony gave Thor a salute and hauled his stuff onto his jet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had so much fun with this chapter, but I feel so bad for Thor.


	12. To Do a Great Right, Do a Little Wrong

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Smut alert!

Loki hadn’t even had time to change back into her usual shape when Thor barged into her room. Loki couldn’t help it, she began laughing all over again when she saw Thor’s face. 

“Oh yes, very funny.” Thor growled. 

“You really should learn to be more concerned when I go quiet, Thor. It always means I’m cooking up something good.” 

“Good? You call fraternizing with Stark good?” Thor bellowed. 

“Ooh, brother. Big word.” Loki laughed at Thor’s frustration. “He was rather good actually. Quite eager as well. Come on, Thor. It was just a bit of fun.” 

“Yes, because he had no idea who you truly were. You know he would not have come anywhere near you if he had known.” Thor said. 

Loki was torn between smugness at knowing that was certainly not the case and a certain unease. That little voice in her head was whispering again and she couldn’t quite ignore it. Sure, Tony knew most of the story, but he didn’t know the worst part. He knew who Loki was, but he still didn’t know what. How would Stark feel when he found out that the smooth, pale skin he was so fond of was a lie? He couldn’t possibly admire eyes that were blood-red instead of green. Knowing in concept is one thing, but seeing another entirely. But, Loki chided that voice, Stark would never find out, so it would never be an issue. 

When Loki pulled away from her internal argument he found Thor frowning at her with more concern than fury now. 

“Did you even think about what will happen when you finally have to reveal yourself? It will be enough of a fight to protect you from Thanos, I don’t need to be worrying about protecting you from our allies as well.” 

“You don’t have to protect me at all, oaf. I told you I won’t be here when that happens.” Loki snapped. 

Thor looked as if Loki had stabbed him; it was a face Loki was all too familiar with. It was a lie anyways. Loki hadn’t been sure that she could abandon Thor when Thanos finally came. She knew now that he couldn’t abandon both Thor and Tony. For better or for worse, she’d fight. But, of course, she couldn’t just say that. Sometimes she annoyed even herself. Loki ached to say something, opened her mouth to even, but Thor beat her to it. 

“Why do I even bother?” Thor grumbled and without another word, walked out the door, slamming it behind him. 

Loki winced at the sound. She thought about going after her brother but decided to leave him be. They’d work out their frustrations tomorrow morning while sparring and then everything would get back to normal. Loki wanted to go immediately to Stark, to finish what they’d started in that storeroom. But the inventor would still be on his plane. Teleporting into a moving vehicle wasn’t impossible, but it was quite difficult and Loki was not in the best frame of mind for something that taxing. 

So, Loki waited. Morning came, and Thor didn’t meet him on the training grounds. Valkyrie offered to spar with him, but that wasn’t really the point. As a form of self-flagellation, Loki kept away from Stark for three days. Unfortunately, it was also three days without his magic lessons, so he had absolutely nothing to raise his spirits. He wasn’t in the mood to be cheered anyways. He didn’t see Thor that entire time. Loki was tempted to believe that Thor had somehow learned how to become invisible because the man wasn’t anywhere that he usually was, not his rooms, his office, the training grounds, nowhere. 

Finally, Loki felt he had been punished enough, gave up on Thor and teleported to Stark’s. The man was in his lab as usual, working on something Loki wasn’t familiar with since he was now done with New Asgard’s needs. He was also, very fortunately, alone since Loki didn’t feel like he had the patience to keep checking in. 

“Good afternoon, Stark.” Loki said, appearing on his usual couch. Stark jumped and seemed to push some of his notes under metal components as if hiding them. Loki frowned but didn’t want to start in on anything. 

“Where the hell have you been?” Stark shouted and now that Loki concentrated on his face, rather than his desk, he did look quite perturbed. 

“It’s only been three days, Stark. I’ve been far longer between visits before.” 

“Well, yeah. But not lately, especially not after everything we talked about.” 

Loki rose his eyebrows. “I see, now that we are in a relationship, I have to answer to you for all my activities?” 

“No! That’s not what I meant, and you know it. Why are you being a dick about this? I was worried about you! I thought Thor might have gotten pissed and tossed you in a dungeon.” Stark ran his hands through his hair, a nervous gesture. 

“We haven’t built any dungeons. Thor was annoyed with me, he’ll get over it. He always does.” Loki said casually, wanting to change the subject. 

“So then where have you been?” Apparently, the man wouldn’t be deterred. 

“I had other things to do. I can’t just spend every day lounging around with you.” 

Even as the words came out of his mouth, he wanted to take them back. But he just couldn’t help himself, he had to hurt everyone he cared for. The whispering was so constant the last few days that he almost didn’t notice the difference from his own thoughts. Tony looked wounded, and of course he did. That was what Loki did best. But he got a hold of himself quickly. He hadn’t been able to fix things with his brother yet, he could do so here and now with his lover. 

Loki got up from the couch and walked over to the inventor, sitting on the desk chair, his face fighting between hurt and angry. Loki shook his head, fought his discomfort and pulled Tony into a hug. He held the man tighter than was probably comfortable, finding that he needed the hug probably as much as the billionaire did. After a few minutes, Tony started to relax and rub Loki’s back soothingly. Loki pulled away and now the man’s face was more confusion, which was probably better. 

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said those things. I provoked a larger fight with Thor than I had intended, and I haven’t had the chance to mend things. It’s put me in a terrible mood.” 

“Then why didn’t you come here so I could help?” Stark asked. 

Why indeed? Loki shrugged. “I don’t know. I didn’t want to talk about it? I wanted to punish myself? I hoped that if I stayed in New Asgard Thor would seek me out himself? Likely some combination of all of those, though I didn’t really think it through at the time.” 

“Yeah, I get that.” Tony nodded. “Tell you what? How about I take you out to dinner?” 

Of course, Stark would completely defy expectations once again. Loki had expected another long talk about feelings and relationships and what not. “That’s it? You forgive me?” 

“You apologized. Look, I get having stuff you don’t want to talk about. I definitely understand wanting time to yourself. Sure, I’d appreciate a little heads up, so I don’t worry about you, but it’s not like we established that beforehand. Now you know and knowing is half the battle.” Stark saluted like a soldier and Loki suspected this was another Earth thing he didn’t understand. Normally that would be annoying, but Stark was in a good enough mood to tease him, so he would take it. 

“What did I ever do to deserve you, ridiculous mortal?” Loki said, kissing him fiercely. 

“Well that’s a pretty good start. How about also getting dolled up so I can take you out?” 

Loki thought about it for a moment and conjured a black suit. Because it was January in New York, not that he got cold, he also conjured a scarf. “How is this?” 

“Hmmm,” Stark said looking him up and down like he was considering which part to devour first. “Perfect. Except...” 

Loki looked down at himself, wondering what was wrong. Tony was looking sheepish, like he knew he had to say something, and Loki wasn’t going to like it. Loki decided to just wait, make Stark come out and say whatever he had to say. 

“Probably shouldn’t go out looking like the guy who tried to invade New York.” Stark said squeamishly, not meeting his eyes. Loki practically sighed with relief, that was an easy fix. 

“Man or woman?” Loki asked. 

“You really don’t mind? I mean, I feel bad, you know I want to go out with you, actual you.” Stark assured him. Loki smiled benevolently. For a mad moment he imagined shifting into his Jotun shape, telling Stark to be careful what he wished for. 

“I don’t mind; it’s what I do. Man or woman?” 

Tony’s smile was mischievous now. “You know, I’ve never been seen out with a man; could be fun?” 

The last bit was phrased as a question. He was obviously trying to leave the final decision up to Loki. So, Loki shifted. He lowered his height to a more average six feet. He lightened his hair to a dark auburn. He changed to a slightly rounder face and stockier build, but left his eyes as they were, since Stark seemed to like them so much. 

After a few moments, Stark shut his gaping mouth. “That was both freaky and awesome. You have freckles.” 

Loki laughed; what an unusual thing to notice. “Yes, men with red hair generally have at least some, it helps make it look more authentic.” 

“Attention to detail.” Stark agreed. “It’s pretty good, I prefer real you obviously, but I can definitely work with this. I like that you kept your eyes.” 

“I do hope you are changing as well, or I am going to be considered woefully overdressed.” Loki eyed Stark’s usual home attire of an old faded t-shirt and battered jeans. Stark laughed, and they went upstairs so that he could change. 

“Aren't you going to put on some gloves? A coat?” Stark asked as they exited the tower to light-snowfall that made the hero shrug up his jacket. 

“If it will make me blend better, I can. I don’t get cold.” Loki said, shrugging. Hoping that Stark would just leave it at that. He did, just giving Loki the “interesting alien fact” face and crossing the street. 

Loki was sure he would never be used to how easy things were with Tony. As often as they argued, as much as he made the man’s life more difficult, they still had this amazing ability to just be together. He truly believed he didn’t deserve the man. After everything he had done he deserved a cell, if not worse, not this joy. It made Loki’s heart stutter with some combination of hope and fear. 

Dinner was an enjoyable fare, some fancy Italian place that was discreet enough to avoid the cameras that tended to enjoy pestering Stark in public. Of course, that didn’t stop people from taking their picture before they got into the restaurant. Tony just smiled and put his arm around Loki’s waist. The food was good, the wine excellent and the company far better still. But Stark wasn’t done surprising him for the night. 

They were in the bedroom, shedding their clothes for sleep and in Loki’s case his disguise, when Stark asked if Loki wanted to try something different tonight. 

“Variety, multiplicity are the two most powerful vehicles of lust.” Loki responded. Loki wasn’t sure when he had picked up this quirk of quoting the mortal authors he read, but it was becoming a habit of his. He found he enjoyed the clever way mortals phrased things; he liked the look of interest the quotes raised in Stark as he tried to determine the source. It was also another way of hiding, using someone else’s words rather than his own, kept his thoughts and feelings from leaking through. 

“And who said that one?” Stark asked. 

Loki smiled widely, “The Marquis de Sade.” 

“Yeah, let’s not use him as a role model. I’m not into BDSM.” 

“And what are you into tonight?” Loki asked. 

Stark actually blushed at that, seemed reluctant to voice what he wanted; something he never had been in the past. “I’d like to try being on bottom.” He said finally. 

Loki’s breath hitched, and he felt his cock twitch in immediate interest. “You would like me to take your virginity?” 

“Don’t put it like that!” tony moaned embarrassed. “I’m not some shy virgin.” 

“Hmmm, how shall I put it then?” Loki asked as he started stalking towards Stark. “I promise to take you softly, sweetly, with all the care you deserve. That is only after I leave you a whimpering puddle at my feet. I won't take you until you are weeping with lust, begging me to end the torture and finally fuck you until you can’t remember your own name.” 

Stark’s pupils blew wide and by the time Loki got his hands on the man, he was already far gone. Stark loved it when Loki talked dirty, which was fortunate because it was something Loki adored doing. He loved being able to watch his mortal absolutely fall apart with only the sound of his voice. 

Loki kissed him hard before tossing Stark on the bed. The man would never admit it, but he loved it when Loki showed just how much stronger he was. Loki had already slicked his fingers by the time he got onto the bed. Stark was most definitely eager, he immediately spread his legs so that Loki could fit between them. Loki started his teasing by trailing a slick finger around Stark’s nipples before leaving a wet trail down his chest to his groin. 

Completely ignoring Tony’s stiff erection, Loki caressed his balls briefly, giving them a parting squeeze before trailing his finger down the sensitive skin to press at Stark’s hole. He conjured more slick and proceeded to tease the rim, making sure that it was good and wet before slipping one thin finger inside. Stark grunted at the sudden pressure and Loki looked up to judge that he was still ok. Stark’s eyes met his challengingly and Loki grinned. 

Loki moved his finger in and out very slowly, taking it out and playing with the rim some more before plunging it in. He had to admit, it was distinctly arousing for him to see his finger swallowed up by Stark’s body, to imagine what his cock would look like when it was finally doing the same. 

When Stark’s breathing started to even out, demonstrating that he was used to the pressure Loki added a second finger. With the second finger inserted he could do far more with his teasing. Instead of just pushing the fingers in and out, once Stark had gotten used to the pressure Loki twisted and curled his fingers widening Stark further and seeking out that particular bunch of nerves. 

Stark let out a surprised shout and Loki knew he had found it. Meeting Tony’s eyes again, Loki brushed his fingertips over the spot again and again. The billionaire’s face was a delightfully aroused mixture of surprise and pleasure. Loki could tell that while he had been curious, Stark hadn’t truly believed that being taken would feel this good. 

Loki ceased the pressure on Stark’s prostate and instead added a third finger. Stark grunted again at the stretch but seemed to get used to it much faster than before. Now it was time for the teasing again. Loki pushed all three fingers in and out at a brutal pace, completely bypassing Stark’s prostate intentionally. Stark started to twist his hips, to push back on Loki, trying desperately for that spot of pleasure that he now knew was there. Finally, Stark let out a moan that was more of a sob and Loki stopped and almost pulled his fingers all the way out. 

Stark whined in protest, tried to scoot forward so that Loki’s fingers impaled themselves again, but Loki pulled back so that they stayed firmly right at his entrance. 

“You know what I want, Stark.” Loki said, pushing his fingers in just a bit, curling them and then removing them again. 

Tony’s eyes went wide as they met his and he blushed in that adorably attractive way of his. “Please?” He finally said. 

“Now Stark,” Loki said, and he inserted his fingers and pressed right on the spot of nerves so that Stark shouted. “That didn’t sound very sure.” He pumped his fingers shallowly again. 

“Oh God, please. Please fuck me.” Stark said, finally and Loki smiled benevolently. 

“As my worshipper commands.” Loki said removing his fingers entirely. Stark managed to give him an amused smirk and then attempted to roll over to his stomach. 

“No, I want to look into your eyes as I take you.” Loki said, holding his hips in place. Stark blushed again but stayed as he was. This position would also keep Loki from going in too deep. With as long as Loki was and as tight as Stark was bound to be, it would be much more comfortable for his mortal if Loki had some help to keep him from going to deep or too hard. 

Loki raised Stark’s legs up, so he was straddling Loki wider, knees up in the air. Loki pressed his cock to Stark’s entrance and as he pressed the head in, he moved his hand to grip the man’s erection. The pleasure helped sooth the pain, Loki knew from experience and he worked Stark’s cock with his hand as he worked his own shaft into that tight body. When he was finally fully in Stark gasped, eyes fluttering, head thrown back. His cock pulsed under Loki’s hand reassuring Loki that the expression was in pleasure rather than pain. 

Loki started to move in and out then, Stark’s body squeezing him so tight that he knew this wouldn’t take long. Fortunately, he knew how to make sure that Stark enjoyed every second. He wasted no time in targeting Stark’s prostate with every thrust, making Stark moan over and over again. Stark’s cock was absolutely weeping pre-cum now, Loki’s hand was moving up and down quicker now and he sped his thrusts to match it. 

Finally, Stark clenched and cried out, his cock spurt in Loki’s hand. Loki thrust through Stark’s orgasm, still rubbing his prostate, milking every bit of pleasure he could from it for the other man. When Stark started to whimper from overstimulation, Loki removed his hand from Stark’s cock, grabbed the man’s hips and started pumping deep beyond Stark’s prostate. It wasn’t too long after before Loki was twitching, hips stuttering as he got close. 

Tony wrapped his legs around Loki and pulled him in for a deep kiss. Loki’s cry as he came was muffled in Stark’s sweet mouth. Even as Loki’s hips stilled, Stark kept kissing him until both of their hearts started slowing. Finally, Stark released Loki’s lips to give him a shit-eating, proud grin. Loki chuckled and Stark shivered as he felt the laugh in a very sensitive place with Loki still buried inside him. 

 

'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'

 

It was several nights later, when Loki abruptly woke from a deep sleep. The room was dark, so it took him a moment to recognize what had awoken him. The man he was currently wrapped around was twitching in his sleep, frowning at whatever his dreams were showing him. Loki wrapped an arm tighter around Stark, the other hand he swept through Tony’s hair as he murmured soothing words in the man’s ear, just like Stark did when Loki was having a nightmare. 

Suddenly, Stark thrashed violently, shoving Loki off him. “Stop!” He shouted, and Loki wondered what he had done until he realized Stark’s eyes were still closed. Finally, Tony started yelling and Loki had to wake him. He grabbed the man’s shoulders and shook him, shouting his name. Finally, he got through and Stark’s eyes opened wide and met his own. Instantly, Tony shouted again and shrunk away from Loki’s grip. 

Loki just sat there on the bed, arms hovering in the air, not sure what he should do. Stark was sitting on the side of the bed, feet on the ground with his head buried in his hands. 

“Sorry,” He murmured quietly. Loki took that as permission to approach and moved so that he was sitting next to Tony. 

“You don’t need to apologize. You’ve dealt with enough of my nightmares.” Loki said, putting a hand on Stark’s shoulder. Stark flinched. Loki pulled his hand back in shock. 

Stark immediately realized what he had done and went to grab Loki’s hand. “No, sorry. That just happened.” 

“What did you dream?” Loki asked. His chest went tense as he anticipated the answer. 

Tony looked over at him, eyes wide and haunted. “It’s nothing. Go back to sleep. I’m just going to go get a drink.” 

Loki wanted to put a hand on his shoulder, keep him from leaving, but he suspected the move wouldn’t be taken well right now. 

“Please tell me.” Loki said softly instead. 

“I think you know.” 

“Tell me anyways.” 

“It was you, throwing me off this building. I’m falling and falling and this time the suit doesn’t come after me. This time, the ground becomes that portal and I’m falling forever in space.” 

Loki swallowed at the fear in Stark’s voice. “Do you have this dream often?” 

“No. Sometimes. Look, can you just leave me alone? I just need time.” Stark said. 

Loki didn’t respond, just watched him go. Watched Stark need to get away from his fear, away from him. It was often easy to forget about what he had done to Tony; the man hadn’t taken any injuries, had bounced right back in time to save the city. Obviously, the injuries Stark had taken from the experience weren’t physical, they were all mental, emotional. He was still haunted to this day by what Loki had done. And Loki had gone so far as to make it a joke. No, Loki definitely did not deserve Tony. He certainly couldn’t allow himself haunt his mortal anymore. With one last look at the familiar bedroom, one last smell of Stark’s cologne, Loki left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo.... I'm figuring I haven't gotten as many comments as usual on the last couple of chapters because everything was just going too well... we'll see if this supports my theory. 
> 
> Also, strap in guys, I am a sucker for drama.


	13. Now is the Winter of our Discontent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, with the sudden uptick in comments, y'all confirmed my theory and have only yourselves to blame...
> 
> Because I didn't totally have this all figured out weeks ago ; )

It was safe to say that Tony Stark had a bit of an abandonment complex. His childhood had been mostly a series of nannies who stuck around anywhere between a month or a year at a time. His adolescence was filled with his father refusing to talk to him over and over again after some disappointment or another. Then his parents died. It certainly wasn’t their fault, but they were gone nonetheless. He’d already been friends with Rhodey by this time, they had met at MIT, but in all the next thirty years, Tony could count on one hand the number of people he had gotten truly close to. 

There was Obadiah, his substitute father figure who had him kidnapped and then personally tried to kill him when the first plan didn’t work out. Pepper was a bit of an anomaly. While she had ditched out on a romantic relationship with him, not that he could entirely blame her, she had stuck around. He did still think of her as one of his true friends and he had learned a lot from their relationship. 

Then he had the Avengers. Despite his initial leeriness at the whole teamwork concept, it had felt good. He felt like he was doing something necessary, something important and he was doing it with people he respected and admired. Of course, he had to royally screw things up with Ultron. Then Bruce disappeared on that Quinjet; Thor left to go look for info on his whole prophecy of doom dream thingy; Hawkeye retired. They had added more people, Scarlett Witch, Vision and Falcon, but it wasn’t the same. 

Then the Accords happened; the Winter Soldier happened and it all fell apart. Technically he still had the Avengers, but even he could admit that they were a far cry from what they had been with Captain America. He had stayed at the compound for a while, but Steve’s letter, particularly that line about the Avengers being his family had kept running through his head. It didn’t feel like that anymore. It wasn’t the same. So, Tony left. He distanced himself so that it couldn’t ever happen again. 

Tony wasn’t yet fifty, but he was already so sick of losing people. He couldn’t count the number of times he thought of calling Steve. He carried that stupid flip phone around with him like a damn security blanket, but he could never come up with a reason that seemed good enough. He had made mistakes; he shouldn’t have taken his fury out on Barnes who was no more at fault for his actions than Barton had been when he was under the Mind Stone’s influence. It was more complicated, but the Accords too had their problems and Tony could definitely count some mistakes he made on that front, even if he still believed in them in concept. 

Tony knew his brain was impressive; he’s had people calling him a genius for years. However, even he was amazed at how more than forty years of abandonment issues could summarize themselves so cleanly in his head in the second that he re-entered the bedroom and found Loki gone. And yet, with the comfortable buzz he had going and only a few hours of sleep, he couldn’t seem to figure out why the god wasn’t where he’d left him. 

It had been a bad dream, but it certainly wasn’t a new one. He had awoken with his heart thundering in his chest in a cold sweat, just relieved to be on solid ground more times than he could count. It actually occurred more than his Afghanistan dreams now as the years moved on. However, that had been the first time that he woke up to see the face of the guy responsible. 

For a confused moment, with Loki’s wide eyes looking into his, he had been right back there. He had pulled away in defense against the blow he knew was coming. But then he realized that Loki’s eyes were wide in concern, not mania, and it had all clicked into place again. He had just needed some time alone to decompress, a few drinks to settle his nerves. Apparently, the god had taken him literally. 

Getting into bed alone, as he did often enough anyways, Tony tried not to be annoyed that he didn’t have a certain lanky someone to wrap himself around. Had he seriously turned into a cuddler? That was kinda weird. Oh well, he’d make the guy feel guilty tomorrow, they’d have great sex and then everything would be right again. 

When Tony got into bed alone the next night, he was starting to have the feeling that things had gone seriously wrong. 

 

'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'

 

Once again, Loki was feeling sorry for himself. Once again, he was pouting in his room for two days. Unfortunately, this time he couldn’t turn into a cat to seek affection from his brother. The man was nowhere to be found. There was no pounding on the door, no concerned pleas for entrance. This was, of course, preferred. Loki liked his time alone and it was very peaceful not to have to deal with his brother at all hours. 

Loki managed to maintain this lie up until the morning of the third day. He deliberately missed the council meeting and still, no one came for him. Loki had convinced himself that he didn’t want company, but it was he who was unwanted. Things had probably gone a lot smoother without him anyways. So once again, Loki was forced to consider why he was here. 

The pathetic truth was that he had nowhere else to go. He wasn’t stuck on Earth, he could move throughout the nine, or now eight, realms, but where would he go? He was considered dead on Alfheim and Vanaheim and even if he wasn't his crimes were well known. Svartelfheim was dead and Niflheim was for the dead. Muspelheim was far too hot. With his history with Etrie, he would never go to Nidavellir. Jotunheim was discarded almost as immediately as the others. He could go there, he might even be welcomed there as king for all he knew; the Jotuns were brutal enough that they may actually respect him for killing Laufey, but he didn’t want to live on that cold rock. 

No, he was staying on Earth, so he needed to make the best of it. There was nothing he could do for Tony except stay away to prevent him being hurt further. So, he needed to make things right with his brother. When Thor was ready, he would be too. At this point, after almost three days tucked up in his room, Loki was getting antsy. He decided that a little exercise and fresh air would probably do him a world of good. No one should be in the training yards this late in the afternoon so, he was safe to leave. 

Loki really needed to get it into his thick skull that he had the worst possible luck. The minute he walked out onto the training yards, he was confronted by Valkyrie. 

“Thank the Norns, you’re here.” Valkyrie gasped. 

“I can safely say that is a phrase that has never been spoken to me before.” Loki deadpanned instinctively. 

“Safe to say I don’t intend to utter it again. Please, save me from your brother.” Valkyrie said and gestured over to where Thor was wiping his face with a towel across the yard. “Whatever is going on with you two, please just kiss and make up. I am done with his temper.” 

At that, a rolling crack of thunder shook the ground. Clouds rolled in and rain started pouring. Loki and Valkyrie looked over at Thor who was now glaring at them. Well, that wasn’t foreboding at all. 

“I give up,” Valkyrie threw her hands up in the air. “Kill each other; see if I care.” 

Loki walked onto the grounds unhurriedly. When he got to the weapons rack, he picked up a quarterstaff, hefting it up, tossing and rolling it a bit in his hands to get a feel for the weight. 

“Interesting weather we’re having.” He said casually, walking out to the center of the combat ring. Thor said nothing, but he grabbed a quarterstaff for himself and met Loki in the center. They took their stances and then, without a word or indication, starting sparring. They’d done this dance countless times. The beginning steps were familiar, unvaried. Loki would feint left, Thor would block high on the right, back and forth until they were warmed up. 

When they started to fight in earnest, it became obvious that Thor was holding back. Even in his temper, the oaf was worried about hurting him. Well, Loki would just have to do something about that. 

“Such temper, Thor. And here I thought you as tamed as a housecat.” Loki struck just a bit harder and Thor returned the blow in proportion. Good. 

“No more tamed than you. Then again, I’m not so desperate for affection that I would actually hide myself as a pet.” Thor countered, swinging wide. Loki just barely avoided the blow to the ribs. In his outrage, he swung back before he had recovered his balance and almost barreled into Thor himself. 

“So, the question is, are you angry that I am no longer seeking your attention or is it that you’ve realized you can’t accomplish anything without me?” Loki jabbed his staff along with his words, getting a hit on Thor’s thigh as he was just a bit too slow in his surprise. 

“At least I know when to seek out help. But not Loki, no, he always goes it alone. As if you haven’t always had family and friends beside you your whole life.” 

“They were your friends and a family of liars. It was always just me. It just took a millennium for me to realize that.” Thor’s eyes narrowed, and the next swing caught Loki’s upper arm in a glancing blow. 

In his rage, Thor was getting sloppy, even as he was putting more force to the blows. Loki countered, but came up short as the butt of the Thor’s staff hit his jaw. Loki stumbled, but didn’t quite fall, the taste of blood in his mouth only fueling him further. The blow to the arm had been a trick and Loki had played right into it. He wouldn’t make that mistake again. He grinned widely, knowing the blood in his mouth would add to the mania in the expression. That little voice was whispering gleefully; you can hurt him, you can make him pay. Loki was done fighting it. 

“So, you abandoned us. Knowing full well that I, at least, had never lied, was as lied to as you were.” Thor yelled as Loki approached. 

“Are you still pretending that you don’t know full well that wasn’t the only issue? That I didn’t fit in long before I found out that I was a completely different race?” Loki anticipated a block that didn’t come and winced as his quarterstaff slammed into Thor’s cheekbone with a crack. But when he met Thor’s eyes again, his expression was schooled back into a sneer. 

“How long are you going to hold onto that? You belong here; you belong by my side. People respect you, you’ve been making a difference. But still you want to pretend that you’ll always be alone.” Thor said, not missing a beat, despite the impressive bruise already flowering on his face. He shoved Loki back a few paces and advanced. 

“It’s better that way.” Loki snarled. 

“For who? You? Me? How well has that done for you in the past? Attacking Jotuntheim, attacking Earth, trying to kill me? How about faking your death, banishing father...?” Thor kept swinging, keeping Loki stumbling back unable to move to attack. 

“Exactly! It’s my fault we’re in this mess in the first place. And this was with me trying to fix at least some of it! If I stick around, who knows what more destruction I’ll cause? The last thing the King of New Asgard needs is a monster for a little brother.” Thor hadn’t expected him to stop moving as he spoke and clocked him in the temple. Loki landed heavily on his back, his eyesight going blank for a moment. When his vision returned, Thor was hovering over him concerned. 

“Brother,” Thor started, but Loki growled and slapped his hand away. Getting to his feet and taking up combat positions again, Loki waited for Thor to do the same. His brother just stood there, watching him concernedly. 

“Fight,” Loki shouted. 

“No, Loki. We should talk.” Thor said, walking forward, holding up a mollifying hand. 

Loki jabbed him in the sternum with his staff, both trying to keep him away and get his temper up again. It didn’t work. 

“Fight me!” Loki yelled, and for a second it was years ago: Loki was furious; he wanted to kill Thor, but he still needed to prove that he was a worthy son; he was Thor’s equal and for that Thor needed to fight. 

But Loki didn’t want to kill Thor, didn’t know what he was trying to prove this time. He just wanted an outlet for everything welling up inside him. He ignored that voice telling him to take advantage, make Thor regret everything. Instead, he threw his staff down. Thor walked forwarded tentatively, holding up a hand to check Loki’s temple. Instead, Loki took the couple of steps forward to meet him and pulled him into a hug. 

He was seriously pathetic, once again taking comfort in another’s arms, but he was too tired to care. He buried his face in his big brother’s neck and wept. They just stood that way for long while. Thor made no move to pull away, just held Loki for as long as he needed. Finally, Loki felt like he might be able to look his brother in the eye. When he stepped back to do so, he winced at the bright red and angry purple dent in Thor’s cheek. He had definitely broken the bone. Loki raised his hand and with a dose of sparkling green-gold magic, healed it cleanly. He then swept the rest of Thor’s body, healing the bruised sternum and the cut thigh while he was at it. 

“I’m sorry,” Loki said. Thor nodded, and Loki was sure Thor knew that he meant the apology for far more than the wounds he had inflicted. 

Thor touched his cheekbone. “You healed it.” 

“Well yeah.” Loki wasn’t able to keep the annoyance out of his tone. He decided to heal his own hurts while he was at it. Wiggling his jawbone to relieve the tension. 

“You’ve never been able to heal like that before.” Thor actually looked impressed. 

“I told you I was studying with Eir. Did you think it was a hopeless endeavor?” 

“Of course not, but you hadn’t mentioned how much you’d improved.” 

Well, actually, Loki hadn’t really healed anything like a broken bone before. He had been able to do bruises and cuts just fine, but that was a first. He hadn’t even thought about it either. He just shrugged. He wasn’t going to read too much into it. 

“Loki,” Thor said in a way that sounded like they were going to start a very long discussion that he really did not have the energy for. 

“What, Thor?” He asked, tiredly. 

“Please don’t call yourself that again.” Thor asked, and Loki didn’t have to ask what he meant. He nodded, not that it changed anything. “You’re my brother, my advisor, my friend. You’re Loki, no more, no less.” 

“Sentimental oaf.” Loki chided, but he smiled a little. 

“Dramatic brat.” Thor countered, and Loki grinned. “So, are you going to tell me what brought all this on?” 

“Though this be madness, yet there is method in't.” Loki quoted before sighing, “It wasn’t anything specific. Just things that had been building for a while.” 

Thor nodded, but he looked skeptical. “Well, as your big brother I will take on the task to beat it out of you whenever necessary.” Thor smiled when Loki actually chuckled at that. “It’s a heavy burden, but I believe a god such as I is up to the task.” 

Loki shoved Thor who then stumbled a bit over the raised ring they were crossing that delineated the combat zone. “Only if I get to beat you every time your head gets too big.” 

“Deal,” Thor responded immediately, and they clasped hands in accord. 

Loki felt lighter than he had in days. He didn’t know if he deserved this, but he was going to take it anyways. Loki could make peace with his brother and New Asgard. He could make peace with leaving Tony to heal, knowing it would be better for the mortal if he wasn’t around. Loki could do this. 

 

'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'

 

Tony wasn’t sure he could do this. He was completely lit and about to walk into a board meeting where he had to pretend to be responsible. What was more, he had to pretend well enough to convince Pepper there was nothing wrong. Yep, he was screwed. 

Actually, no he wasn’t. In fact, there had been no screwing whatsoever and that was the problem. After three days of no Loki, which sure wasn’t the longest the guy had ever been gone, but still they had that talk with the whole relationship thing, so Loki knew how crappy it was, Tony had crawled into the bottom of the scotch bottle. That was three days ago, we were now just one day away from the longest he had gone without hearing from Loki since the bastard had appeared in his lab that first time. 

Tony didn’t know why he thought attending this board meeting would be a good idea. Sure, FRIDAY had chided him incessantly, but she was way easier to ignore than JARVIS had been. Oh, Jarvis. Add him to the list of people Tony had lost in one way or another. Both of them actually. The list was getting depressingly long. He still hadn’t brought himself to add Loki to it yet, but it was just a matter of time. 

Tony made his way to his office, hardly stumbling at all, good for him. He just needed one thing before sitting through this annoying meeting. He was under his desk, rummaging through his secret drawer, because he was cool that way, when the door opened. 

“Tony?” Pepper called, and Tony hit his head on the underside of his desk. It should have been a concerning sign of his level of inebriation that it didn’t hurt all that much. He didn’t even see stars, at least not any more than he had been seeing before. 

“Hey Pepper! Just grabbing some supplies for the meeting!” He called, rummaging through the drawer again. Where was it? He knew he had left a bottle in here. 

“Are you looking for the alcohol you left? You won't find it.” Pepper told him. Tony hit his head again in surprise. How did she get over to the desk so damn fast? Could she teleport? Could everybody teleport except him? Maybe he should start trying to work on a teleporter. Tony couldn’t believe that he hadn’t thought about that one before. 

Then his brain caught up with what Pepper had said. “Why? Did I drink it already?” 

“No, I got rid of it. You shouldn’t be keeping alcohol at work.” Pepper said. Curses! Foiled again. Pepper helped him up, which was probably for the best since he wasn’t 100% sure where to put his feet. “What happened Tony? What’s wrong?” 

“Nothing’s wrong! Just partied a little too much that’s all. Last night turned into this morning, and you know how it is.” Tony slurred, a little. 

“I’m surprised Loki doesn’t have some sort of spell to instantly sober you up.” Pepper mused. That was actually a really good point. Did Loki have a spell like that and not share it with him? Asshole probably did. 

“He’s terrible at healing-type stuff.” Tony found himself saying. Why did he remember shit like that? Loki said it off-hand once and now apparently it was in his head forever. 

“That seems about right, actually.” Pepper said. No, it wasn’t right. Nothing was right. 

“Yup, only annoying and destructo magic for the god of mischief. Just about right.” Tony said instead. Pepper frowned at him suspiciously. 

“Did you and Loki have a fight?” Pepper asked. 

“Nope,” Tony said, which was totally the truth. A fight he could have dealt with. Then he could have yelled at the guy and then fucked him silly and then everything would be ok. No, he just took off without a word. 

“Why don’t you go home, Tony?” Pepper said, not believing him for a second. “This isn’t a particularly crucial meeting. No one will be surprised that you aren’t there.” 

“Hey!” Tony protested. “I resemble that remark!” Wait, that wasn’t right... 

“Go home, Tony. Get some sleep and sober up. If I don’t hear from you by 10am tomorrow, I will come out there personally to check up on you.” 

Tony shuddered, Pepper would definitely make him pay if she did that. “Yes, ma’am.” 

So, Tony went home. He didn’t sleep, he definitely didn’t sober up. Instead, he started working on a teleporter. By the time 10am was rolling around, Tony wasn’t sober, but he wasn’t as drunk as before. He was definitely sober enough to trick Pepper. She seemed to buy it and thus Tony was off the hook for a few days. 

It took one more day before Tony realized that he had to get out of the tower. Loki was everywhere. The wineglasses in the kitchen, the couch in the lab, and most definitely the bed. 

It was Pepper all over again; yet in some ways it was far worse. At least Pepper had the balls to actually break up with Tony. At least Tony knew it was over, knew why it was over and knew that he would still have Pepper in his life, as his friend, as his CEO. He had no idea why Loki was gone. Was one nightmare seriously enough that he just decided “screw it, Tony’s not worth this trouble”? Had he just gotten distracted and would show up tomorrow all repentant and sexy until Tony forgave him again? He couldn’t have been so stupid as to take Tony’s request to leave him alone as a permanent thing, right? Tony had no idea and short of flying to New Asgard, he had no way to know. 

It wasn’t like he had called the pilot ten times to ready the plane. It wasn’t like Tony had picked up the phone at least twenty-five times to call Thor. But at the end of the day, Tony had his pride damn it. If he was so easy to toss aside like that, well he would show how easily he could move on. At least, he would move on. In a few days or so, after he had left this stupid tower with all of its stupid memories.


	14. It is a Tale Told by an Idiot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo.... it's a tad spoilery but I always believe in giving people warnings, smut alert for the end of the chapter!

Loki jumped when a knock at his door interrupted his reading. He’d had practically no attention span lately, so he’d been re-reading Hamlet. It was his favorite by Shakespeare, but even the wit was not enough to divert him. 

“Come in,” He called cautiously. Thor had just checked on him a few hours before, so he was pretty sure it wasn’t his brother. If it was, Loki was bound to lay into him for being so ridiculously overbearing. They’d been doing well the last few days since their fight, but Thor knew there was more going on with Loki’s mood than what happened between the two of them. He didn’t seem to want to break their temporary truce to actually ask, though. So, he’d taken to visiting Loki’s rooms far more often than usual to make sure Loki was doing inane things like eating and sleeping. It was exhausting. 

The blonde head that appeared around his door was not that of his brother, but Eir. Suddenly, Loki felt underdressed. He was just in a tunic and breeches with no shoes. He didn’t change, knowing that would just amuse her. He, however, did slide off his bed to stand and offer her a chair. She took it with a murmur of thanks and lacking anywhere else to sit, Loki sat back on the corner of his bed, feeling for all the world like a child about to get a talking to. Probably because he was, judging by Eir’s expression. 

“To what do I owe the pleasure of your company this evening, Lady Eir?” Loki asked, falling into formal language as he often tended to when talking to her. 

“I know very well you’d like me to be elsewhere, Loki and I do think we know each other well enough that you can dispense with the formalities.” Eir chided him. They were getting off to a great start. 

“I’m not one for much company from anyone nowadays.” Loki said. 

“That’s why Thor asked me to come speak to you, actually.” 

“Thor...” Loki growled, picturing all the delightful ways he was going to torture his brother. 

“He’s concerned for you, Loki. He knows you won't talk to him.” 

“What makes him think I’ll talk to you?” Loki snapped before thinking of it. 

“I’m not sure he does, but he had to give something a try. Who else would he ask?” Eir takes no offense, of course. And really the thought is sound. He doesn’t respond though, just shrugs, so Eir continues. “Thor told me you healed his cheek.” 

“Did he tell you I was also the one to break it?” Asked Loki, deflecting. 

“Yes, but that wasn’t the point of the story. Healing bones, that is wonderful progress.” Eir was not to be deterred. “How do you think you got through your block?” 

“I don’t know. I didn’t even think about it when I did it.” 

“Do you think it was because it was Thor? We’ve only ever tried healing with your own wounds or other Asgardian’s before.” 

Loki groaned, “That’s just what Thor needs to further swell his already fat head.” 

Eir chuckled but didn’t respond. This talk of healing put Loki’s mind in a different direction, one he’d never thought of before. 

“Eir, are you able to heal wounds of the mind?” Loki asked. 

Eir’s face fell. “No, Loki. That’s not really how healing works. I know you’ve been through a lot, I’m sure it feels insurmountable to work through sometimes. But if you would like we can talk about it. Are you referring to your mental state since your fall?” 

Loki spluttered for a bit. He hadn’t really considered that she would think he meant the healing for him. He also wasn’t aware that his madness was that common of knowledge. In his discomfort, he blurted without really thinking it through. “No, not me! Of course, yes, I was mad, probably still am to a good extent. But I generally have a hold on the evil parts of me; I haven’t hurt anyone recently. Well, except Thor.” 

Eir’s eyes flashed. “What would give you the impression that you are evil? You have made some terrible choices, done some ill-advised things, but I certainly wouldn’t consider you to be evil. Look at all you have done since.” 

“It’s in my nature, Eir, whether I like it or not. I’m a Frost Giant. I did that little reveal in my play, can you honestly say that it didn’t make all of my reckless, violent decisions suddenly made sense?” 

Eir gave him that look that said he was being completely obtuse. He remembered it well from his mother. “Loki, I have been your only healer for your entire life. Do you truly think me so unskilled that I wouldn’t know that I was healing a Jotun rather than an Asgardian?” 

Well, when she put it like that, it was a bit ridiculous. Loki had never really thought about the fact that Frigga had only ever taken him to the head healer of Asgard for all hurts, no matter how small. She’d done the same with Thor, so if Loki had given it any thought he would have just pegged it as overprotectiveness. Wonderful, another person he respected who had lied to him his whole life. Loki could feel the anger starting to well up, but he was just so tired of being angry all the time. What good did it do at this point? 

“I’ve suspected Heimdall knew as well, it would have been hard to keep it from him, but the bastard won't confirm it. Did everyone know but me and Thor? Was it really that obvious?” Loki threw up his hands in frustration. 

“I don’t know of anyone else who knew other than your parents, but due to my friendship with Frigga and their desire to make sure you were well, considering they had no idea how long you had been out in the elements or why you were so small in the first place, it was necessary for them to apprise me.” 

“So, you could, of course, help them hide everything.” Loki said bitterly, which wasn’t the same thing as anger at all. 

“They didn’t originally intend on hiding it from you. They were going to tell you as soon as you were old enough to understand. But once that happened, certain choices about certain portrayals of the Jotun’s...” These words were spoken through gritted teeth. Eir’s obvious frustration with Odin’s mistakes tempted Loki into a smile. “showed that if they did tell you, it wouldn’t go well. I urged them to do it sooner rather than later. I knew the longer they put it off the more betrayed you would feel. They felt like they could hide it from you indefinitely.” 

“Who knows? They might have if it hadn’t been for Thor. I still don’t get why Odin wouldn’t tell me when I know part of his plan had to be to use me politically. I would have to find out eventually. I should have asked him a few questions before ditching him on Earth. Now I’ll never know.” 

“While I can’t be sure, your parents never spoke of their plans for you to me, I believe that Odin did take you for political purposes. However, as you grew up your parents grew to love you as their own. I don’t think it was long before Odin couldn’t have used you that way anymore.” 

It was a pretty story, a comforting thought. Loki wanted to believe it more than anything; which is why he didn’t. It was too clean, too easy. He didn’t doubt that Frigga felt that way. Odin, well, that man was far more complicated. He was pretty sure that Odin had loved him, in his way. He really didn’t believe that would have kept him from using Loki to further his goals if necessary. Eir watched him brood for a few minutes before she spoke again. 

“I believe we’ve flung far from your original intentions. If you didn’t mean the healing for yourself. Was it for Mr. Stark?” Eir asked carefully. At Loki’s mute surprise, she laughed. “Please, I saw the two of you together, remember? There was no mistaking the love on your face and it was very clearly mirrored in his as well.” 

Loki blushed; why did Eir always make him blush? “We were together, yes. But...?” Loki trailed off not really sure of what to say. Love was a ridiculous, romantic notion for books and plays. He looked down at Hamlet sitting on his bed. Love drove you crazy. Then again, Loki was already crazy. No, this wasn’t the point of this conversation. 

“Were together? What happened?” Eir asked. 

“Last time I was here, when I brought the Chitauri I mean, we fought.” Loki started. 

“Yes, he is an Avenger as is Thor, right?” 

“Yes, but they actually weren’t a team until that event. They were all brought together specifically to defeat me.” 

“Oh,” was all Eir could seem to provide at that. 

“And it wasn’t just that I fought his team, I personally fought Stark. I actually threw him out the window of his tower when I couldn’t control his mind.” Eir frowned but said nothing. Apparently, that wasn’t quite enough of an explanation. “He survived, of course, but he still has nightmares.” 

“Yes, but what happened, dear?” Eir prodded softly. 

“A week ago, he had one of these nightmares. It was only made worse by waking up and seeing me, the person who caused them. I realized that I was only hurting him, that was something I don’t want to do ever again, so I left.” Loki finished. 

“What did he say when you told him you were leaving him?” Eir asked. 

“I didn’t...” Loki started. “He asked me to leave him alone.” 

“Yes, and I am sure he meant forever,” Eir snapped, apparently she had reached the end of her patience. 

“Please tell me you discussed this with him afterwards at least.” At Loki’s contrite look, Eir stood up. She wasn’t shouting precisely, her tone was still measured, but she was gesticulating widely in a way that made it clear that her temperament was such that if it were any other person they would be shouting. “You foolish, arrogant boy. The man has come to care for you, in spite of your past history, that by itself should be obvious. Then he has a nightmare, but instead of just giving him some time as he requested, and really haven’t you said or done things after a nightmare that you didn’t quite mean? No, you just abandon him without a word? What must he think?” 

“Abandon?” Loki hadn’t really thought of it that way. He thought that the dream would have brought to Tony’s mind all the reasons he shouldn’t want Loki around. Loki half believed the mortal would be relieved, but really only half. Part of him knew Tony would be wondering what had happened. He knew Tony wouldn’t quite know whether Loki had just gotten a wild hare and would come back or if he was gone for good. He was ok with that because it would make Tony hate him, would make it all that much easier. 

“Yes, abandon. You just decided that you knew what was best for him to feel and you left without getting any input from him. How dare you make that decision for him!” Eir looked furious. He had thought Valkyrie was scary, but she had nothing on this woman when angered. “If you do not go back there, apologize profusely and explain yourself, so help me, Loki...” 

“It’s been more than a week Eir. It’s done; I’m sure Stark hates me already. He can move on and so will I.” 

“Men,” Eir said like a curse. Loki opened his mouth to counter that and she just held up a hand. “No, you are a man in all of the worst possible ways.” 

Well, that was insulting. Loki wasn’t quite sure he had ever been insulted worse, which was impressive when you considered his childhood. Then again, most of his insults growing up had been on how he wasn’t manly enough, this was rather the opposite. Loki wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about that. 

“So, you want me to go back and, what, ask him to take me back?” Loki wasn’t sure what she thought he would accomplish. 

Eir sighed heavily. She sat down and stared him right in the eyes like they were going through a magic lesson. “Here is what I know. You love this man enough that you are willing to be miserable because you believe it will make him happy in the long run. It is completely misguided, but the feelings are admirable. I know how Mr. Stark looked at you weeks ago. If he was not already in love, he was most of the way there. If you explain to him your feelings, your reasoning, he will be, and should be, extremely angry with you, but he will forgive you and you will both be happier for it.” 

She gave this whole speech in the tone he would explaining complicated magic theory to Runa when she was being particularly petulant. Once again, he was insulted, and confused. Love was something he really hadn’t considered. He was attached to Tony, he liked Tony. In fact, he liked Tony more than anyone, maybe even more than Thor, though it was certainly in a different way. He ached for the man, had the feeling like he would never be happy again if he wasn’t with him, but he had mostly chalked that up to his penchant for drama. Love, huh. 

“Eir,” He started, but she interrupted. 

“If the next words out of your mouth aren’t ‘thank you for your brilliant advice, I will be leaving shortly to make this right’, I will go tell Thor everything we have discussed.” There was an amused tilt to her lips that told Loki that she knew she had already won and now was just rubbing it in. He could respect that, it was something he would do. He didn’t have to like it, though. 

“That is hitting below the belt,” Loki growled. 

“Those are not the words I asked for,” She warned. 

“My upmost thanks for your gracious and tempered advice. I will be leaving on the morrow, so as not to disturb my lover in the middle of his rest. Are these sufficient to your terms?” He used his most oily court voice, but he made her grin. 

“Clever boy,” She praised. 

Loki reached out to grab her hand and bring it to his lips, “Truly, thank you.” 

 

'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'

 

Tony was scraping the bottom of the barrel. For lack of anything to do, he was re-building the Shelby Cobra engine. The teleporter idea had gone nowhere. He’d probably revisit it when he could bear to be sober, though. He didn’t even want to think about his anti-magic device, for obvious reasons. 

Staying in the Malibu mansion was supposed to help, but then he had also spent a night with Loki here as well, even if he hadn’t known it was him at the time. That night had been absolutely perfect. Had been an introduction into how easy, how good things could be; but apparently not good enough. 

Tony had obviously known how much he enjoyed being with Loki. There had been no question in his mind that he cared. But it was amazing how much an absence could truly demonstrate the depth of your feelings. Tony hadn’t realized how intrinsically he’d been bonded to the god until suddenly that piece of him was missing. 

“Ms. Potts is using her over-ride code to obtain entrance, boss. She should be down shortly.” Tony sighed. Of course, he had set FRIDAY to disable all calls, non-emergency communications and intruders. Of course, he had also expected Pepper to override after she hadn’t heard from him in three days. But when Pepper walked in carrying an In N Out bag, he was immediately suspicious. 

“Burgers, huh? Why?” Tony asked immediately. 

“When was the last time you ate anything?” Pepper asked patiently. 

“Does booze count?” Pepper just gave him the look. “No? Then what day is it?” 

“Hence the food. I decided to make my life easier and bring something I wouldn’t have to force you to eat.” Pepper dropped the bag in front of him, but he still glared at it like it might explode on him. 

“Yes, but that’s why it’s suspicious. Wait, am I dying again?” Tony asked. He didn’t wait for an answer. “I would probably be the one to know if I’m dying again though, or probably not, I’m kind of having a memory thing. FRIDAY, am I dying?” 

“Not at a quicker pace than usual, boss.” FRIDAY answered. 

“Ooo, you’re getting better at the sass. I like it!” Tony praised. Pepper just rolled her eyes. She didn’t have a good appreciation for the sass apparently. 

“Tony, what happened?” Pepper asked as Tony started digging through the bag to grab a Double-Double. It would be a travesty to waste In N Out. 

“What do you mean, what happened? I’m Tony Stark. Here I am working on mechanical shit, not eating, not sleeping, drinking as much as I want. Everything is normal. Back to the status quo. All is as it should be, and all that.” 

“Where’s Loki?” Pepper asked cautiously. 

“Oh, who the hell knows? You can’t keep the God of Mischief in one place for too long. Should have guessed that actually. Had to find the one person more commitment-phobic than me. Karma, right?” Tony grinned lopsidedly, but he knew Pepper could see through it. 

“He broke it off?” 

“No! Actually, he didn’t. That would have been polite. That would have required him to be something less than a raging asshole. He took off! No shit, I had a nightmare and he just decided well, that’s annoying, peace out and left.” Tony gesticulated wildly with his burger, bits of lettuce flying onto the floor. He frowned at the food in his hand but shrugged and took a bite. 

“Tony, you aren’t making sense. Please can you give me an actual series of events here?” Pepper was leading him around like a child on a leash. It was seriously annoying that she couldn’t follow along with his stream of consciousness. Loki always seemed to, except when he threw in references that the god didn’t get. But even those were getting less and less, the guy was like a freaking sponge. 

“A few days before that board meeting, which I don’t know how long ago that was so bear with me, I woke up from a nightmare. It was one of the ones where Loki pushes me off the tower and I’m falling forever into space.” Pepper nodded, familiar with the dream. “Then I wake up and Loki’s right there in my face and it freaked me out, ok? The guy who it felt like just tried to kill me is now in my bed asking if I’m ok. It’s weird.” 

He was being defensive, he knew, but he couldn’t help but feel some blame for pushing Loki away. There had to be a reason that people left. When something keeps reoccurring you look for the common denominator. Guess what? That’s you, genius. 

“So, I asked him to give me some time alone. I left the room to go get a drink and calm my nerves and when I got back he was gone. Haven’t heard from him since.” Tony finished, taking a swig of scotch while he was at it, and finished the cheeseburger. He was glad there were two more double-double's in the bag because he was suddenly starving. 

“And you’re sure he isn’t coming back?” Pepper asked. “I mean, I’m sorry Tony, but I remember when you freaked out a bit when he was gone for several days last time. It isn’t exactly in his nature to stay still.” 

“Seven days was the record, and that was before we were even dating. I didn’t even fly out to Malibu until after day six and I know it's been several days since then. That’s it. He’s gone.” Tony said. He got the sudden urge to throw the glass in his hand, he didn’t fight it. He tossed it far away from Pepper and it shattered satisfyingly on the far wall. “You know what? Fuck him! He always had the power, and not just the voodoo, like the actual power, like he wore the pants, even though sometimes he wore dresses.” 

Pepper gave him a confused look. “He’s a shapeshifter and he makes a seriously hot woman. Anyways, where was I? Oh, yeah. Power. He would just pop in whenever he wanted all ‘I’m bored, Stark. Entertain me, Stark.’ And I just dropped everything and did it. Then when he didn’t want to be here, he wasn’t. He didn’t tell anyone about me and I wasn’t allowed to tell anybody about him. Well except you, and well kinda Peter but that was his fault. Actually, I haven’t heard from the kid in a while, I really should check on him. What was I saying?” 

“You were saying you were going to bed to sleep this off.” Pepper said, grabbing his shoulders. 

“That really doesn’t sound like me,” Tony said dubiously, but it was too exhausting to fight her, so he let himself be led. 

“Hello, Stark.” A very familiar, not at all sexy anymore, voice said behind him. 

Tony whipped around to see if it was the god of dicks himself. Suddenly, the world tilted, and things went dark. 

Tony opened his eyes to Pepper and Loki staring down at him. Loki had his hand hovering over Tony’s forehead. Wisps of green-gold light flickered around his fingers. 

“What are you doing?” Tony asked. His head felt weird. His thoughts were starting to sort, to break through the haze of alcohol he’d been in for more than a week. 

“Healing you. Stay calm.” Loki said. 

“I thought you couldn’t heal people.” Tony definitely remembered that. He had even remembered that at his most drunk. 

“I couldn’t, but I broke through the block. Just a few more seconds and I will have all the alcohol out of your system.” Loki said. 

“Who asked you? That’s the last thing I want. Do you know how much money it took me to get that drunk on the good stuff?” Tony growled. 

“Well Ms. Potts did, actually. After she slapped me. I thought it best to follow her wishes. You were unable to voice yours at the moment.” Loki said in his calm, smooth perfectly rational way. Though he was keeping an eye on Pepper in a very concerned manner. It was kinda cute how intimidated he was by her. No, stop it Tony. He was a jerk and, therefore, never cute. 

“Ok, well, I’m all healed now, so you can get back to whatever you’ve been up to for more than a week.” Tony got up, amazed at how good he felt. No hangover, no aches, no dry mouth even. Man, this was good stuff. He was still hungry though. He grabbed another cheeseburger out of the bag. 

“Actually, Stark, if you could spare me a few minutes, I would like to talk to you.” Loki was doing that formal talking thing he did when he was uncomfortable. Yep, there was the picking at the left hand too. Well, he felt bad. That was something. Tony was half afraid that he really had just gone off and didn’t feel a damn thing. 

“Fine, I can manage a few minutes. I guess I have a few things to say to you too.” Tony acquiesced. 

“Of that I have no doubt.” 

“Pepper?” Tony asked. 

“Are you sure, Tony?” 

“Yeah, thanks but I got this. Now that I’m conscious I can smack the guy around myself.” Loki actually winced at that. Oh goody. 

But then Pepper was gone, and it was just Tony and Loki. Tony’s brain was a whirl. It was a seriously weird experience to be sober for the first time in over a week, especially when he was drunk not two minutes ago. He felt like all of his thoughts were hitting at once, rather than waiting the one millisecond between each that he was used to. 

“Ok, hit me. This had better be a fucking amazing apology.” Tony said. “Because seriously this has been one of the crappier points in my life and I have a pretty high bar considering I was kidnapped and tortured once.” More wincing. “I can’t really think of any possible good explanation that is going to make any of this okay.” Pause to breath. “I’ve even been trying to figure out how all of this is my fault, and that’s seriously not cool. Because I think we both know when I asked you for time that it was a temporary deal.” Pause to re-order thoughts, then finally. “Fuck, Loki.” 

“I believe if you want an explanation, you might have to actually be quiet for a moment, so I can speak.” Loki interjected carefully. 

Tony glared at him. “Really? With the snark? Do you really think that’s appropriate right now?” 

“It’s never stopped you in the past.” Loki’s lips curled up a bit, and yeah; that was kind of a good one. Tony huffed a laugh. 

“Touche.” 

“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” Loki wheedled. 

“That’s not Shakespeare.” Tony argued. 

“I am capable of quoting others than Shakespeare, Stark. Your world has an impressive array of literature.” 

“Hey, that was actually kind of nice. You said something nice about Earth!” 

“I’ve said nice things about Earth before. I’ve said nice things to you, haven’t I?” 

“Not enough.” Tony grumbled. “Weren’t you supposed to be begging my forgiveness about now?” 

“You haven’t really allowed me the chance.” Loki huffed, and well, yeah. That was probably fair. 

“Ok, go. I won’t interrupt anymore.” Tony waved a hand to him magnanimously. 

“I’ll believe that when I see it.” Loki mumbled under his breath, but Tony totally could hear. He shot Loki his best death glare, but Loki was undeterred. Unfortunately, Loki had seen a lot of scarier people than Tony, like Pepper. “Would you believe that I left because I felt that it was the best for your future happiness?” 

“No, because that’s stupid.” Tony responded, but motioned for Loki to continue. 

“I know I’m difficult. I’m unreliable, moody, arrogant. I’m sure you could fill in your own list of uncomplimentary traits. We argue all the time and though that is something I actually enjoy immensely, it isn’t precisely healthy. I’m uncomfortable with the concept of relationships and physical displays of affection.” Loki sighed, pausing as if to sort his thoughts. “When you had that nightmare and I realized the lasting damage I had done to your mental health; made only worse by waking up to see your attacker, it felt like the last straw. I thought if I just left, permanently, and didn’t allow you to talk me out of it as I knew you could, it would be better for you in the long run. You could go back to hating me and would be happier in the end.” 

Damn it, of course it was a good explanation and framed in a way that showed how much he cared about Tony. It was still crazy pants, of course, but what else did he expect from his god of mischief? Plus, it kinda sounded like something Tony would think of. Crap, Tony couldn’t let him get away with this that easily. 

“That’s fucked up.” 

Loki nodded, “So I was strongly informed.” 

“You told someone about us?” That got Tony’s attention. 

“Yes, Eir.” Loki paused, and Tony was waiting for the ‘but’. He could tell that Loki was debating between just saying what Tony wanted to hear and the actual truth that Tony would prefer. “Actually, she seemed to already know about our relationship based on our interactions with her.” 

Huh, Tony had thought she had been pretty observant. “Thor didn’t though, right?” 

Loki snorted. “Of course not, Thor would need a flashing billboard, a handwritten letter and a hammer to the face first. He still hasn’t realized that Valkyrie likes him as much as he likes her.” 

“Really? The scary warrior chick? Huh, yeah, I can see that actually. We should get them together.” 

“We?” Loki asked, and he looked so hopeful it was a little pathetic. Tony realized he really had been just assuming that they would get back together. That didn’t seem quite right. This was shitty, and Loki should definitely pay for it. He couldn’t forgive him this easily, right? Then again, was this really worse than sleeping with him while pretending to be someone else? Tony had forgiven that pretty damn easily. Tony wasn’t sure what that said about him, but it probably wasn’t good. 

Loki was looking at Tony be all silent and contemplative and the hopeful face was gone. It was replaced by that mask of nothingness that actually said quite a lot. He was afraid of the answer, afraid of showing what he felt. His hands were clenched grabbing his pants on either side as he tried not to pick at his left hand as he always did when he was nervous. Man, did Tony know anyone as well as he did Loki? Again, maybe Pepper, but then that strawberry incident came to mind. Did aliens have allergies? Tony should probably check on that later. 

Yes, he had forgiven Loki, but that didn’t mean he still wasn’t going to make him pay. 

“I don’t think that I ever heard an apology anywhere in there.” Tony prompted. 

“I am truly sorry, Stark. I...I care about you deeply, it was not my intention to hurt you, any more so than I have in the past that is.” Heh, he got the God of Lies to apologize. He should have FRIDAY save a copy of this for his personal files. He was going to focus on that and not what Loki had been starting to say before switching to I care about you. Nope. 

“Just so we’re clear, I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have snapped at you after my nightmare. I wasn’t really thinking at the time, but my intention wasn’t to make you feel bad. But, in the future, you don’t get to unilaterally make decisions that affect both of us. I know you are crazy old and think you know everything, but you don’t know more about me than me. Got it?” Loki looked like he wanted to argue, but Tony shot him with one of Loki’s looks, the raised eyebrows that dared you to argue. It probably didn’t look half as dignified as when Loki did it, but it seemed to work well enough because Loki nodded solemnly. 

“Never again, I swear it.” Loki said. Well, Loki had told Tony how big swearing oaths was in Asgard so that was probably the best that Tony was going to get. 

“So, what do I owe Eir for this?” Tony asked. 

“Well, I would like to think that I would have come to this conclusion on my own once I had made myself miserable enough.” Loki argued, but then relented. “Then again, I’ve been told I can be quite stubborn. I’m sure she would adore anything that came from you. I believe she holds you in some esteem.” 

Tony tried not to preen at that, too much. “Ok, enough of the complicated. A day like this requires ice cream. 

“Ice cream?” Loki asked. Tony led him to the kitchen. 

It wasn’t too much later that Loki was absolute putty in his hands. 

“Oh my, oh Stark, I had no idea. This is amazing.” Loki’s groans were sinful enough to make even Tony blush. 

It turned out that Loki was a big fan of ice cream. He had already gone through a pint of Tony’s favorite, Coffee, but only from Haagen Daas thank you very much. Now he was steadily working his way through Mint Chocolate Chip, which he seemed to like even more. 

Since Loki was literally in his lap, Tony suddenly found himself wanting to make the god groan for a different reason entirely. He grabbed the almost empty pint from Loki’s hands, threw the spoon away somewhere and twisted Loki so they were fully facing one another. Loki growled but allowed the movement. 

“Kiss me,” Tony demanded. 

“Now why would I want to do that when I can have ice cream?” Loki asked. 

Tony grabbed the god’s neck and pulled him down for a kiss. Despite his playing at reticence, Loki’s lips were as hot and demanding as Tony’s own. Tony licked and nibbled his way into Loki’s mouth before letting his tongue do all the work. Finally, he pulled back to make sure he had Loki’s undivided attention. 

“Mmmm...very good.” Loki purred appreciatively. “But it’s not quite Mint Chocolate Chip.” 

“Weren’t you supposed to be the one making things up to me? I am not feeling the love right now.” Oh crap, there was the L-word he had been avoiding thinking about. 

“Of course. Command me, Stark.” Loki said, and didn’t that just bring up tantalizing images of sex slave Loki to his mind. 

“Kneel,” Tony demanded. Without the slightest bit of hesitation, Loki got off Tony’s lap and sank to his knees on the floor. There was a twitch at the corner of his lips that showed that he was trying not to be amused at the obviousness of Tony’s request. But there was no embarrassment, no censure in his eyes; they only asked for further instruction. Fortunately, Tony knew exactly what he wanted Loki to do while he was down there. 

“You know what to do,” Tony said cockily, gesturing to the growing erection in his pants. 

Loki actually licked his lips. Maybe there was some ice cream still left on there, but Tony was going to believe it was anticipation. Loki inched forward on his knees until he was firmly between Tony’s legs. Each hand slid up one of Tony’s legs, past his knees and up his thighs until he was cupping Tony’s hips. He slid Tony a bit so that he was seated closer to the edge of the chair. Loki leaned forward and nuzzled at Tony’s groin, kissing and licking at it through the jeans until he was hard as a rock. 

Loki unbuttoned the top button of the jeans, but then used his teeth to pull the zipper down; his hot breath felt amazing, even through Tony’s boxers. Loki sat up and ran his cool hands up from Tony’s hips to his waist before he pulled them down taking Tony’s jeans and boxers with him. Loki somehow managed to hold Tony up off the seat and simultaneously pull the clothing down until it was pooled at Tony’s ankles. It had to have been magic, there was no way he could have done it otherwise. 

Now that Tony’s erection was free from its confines, it was clearly pointed at where it wanted to go. As it turned out, Loki took direction quite well. Tickling fingers ran through his pubic hair until they came to the base of his cock to steady it. Loki then proceeded to lick at the head of his dick with as much bravado as he had the spoon of ice cream, moaning just as delightedly. 

He paused, but only to run his hand up and down the length until a drop of pre-cum pooled at the tip. Loki licked up the drop, swirled it around in his mouth before pronouncing it delicious and then proceeding to take Tony’s entire erection into his throat. 

It was far and away the best blowjob that Tony had ever had, including the other’s he had already received from the god to this point. Loki’s talented tongue knew exactly where to lick, swirl and press to tease every possible nerve up and down Tony’s length. He couldn’t possibly have a gag reflex because he took the full cock down his throat and stayed there for what seemed like an inordinate amount of time. 

It wasn’t long before Tony’s breaths were coming in pants, his hips were stuttering, and he fought not to pound that tight throat. Loki didn’t let up for a second, sucking until his cheeks caved in and Tony came so hard that he felt like all the blood rushed from his head and out his dick. 

When Tony could finally think again all he could say was, “Wow.” 

Loki swallowed Tony’s spend down obviously, licked his lips once again, grinned and said. “Indeed. Who was I to think that Mint Chocolate Chip could ever compare?” 

And well, Tony just had to reward that talented of a lie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you not lucky enough to have had the amazingness that is In N Out, it's a burger joint that's only available on the West Coast of the US and it is the best burger ever, you can't convince me otherwise. A Double Double is double meat and double cheese and perfect proportions. Yes, I am waxing poetic about a burger, they are that good.
> 
> Also, Haagan Daas is the best ice cream, also non-debatable. 
> 
> Damn, I must have been really hungry when I wrote this, so much food porn along with the actual porn.
> 
> Also, yay! Back together!


	15. The Course of True Love Never did Run Smooth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I'm a bit later than usual on this one! Traveling for work gets crazy! 
> 
> This chapter is strongly competing with Chapter Eleven (Where Tony and Loki prank Thor) as my favorite.

It was three days before either one of them even thought about leaving the bedroom. They had been going at it like bunnies before the week and change of separation, so they had a lot of sex to make up for. And talking, and closeness and really, everything. 

“I suppose I should be getting back.” Loki said reluctantly, and Tony groaned. 

He did have a point though; they had been incommunicado for quite a long time. Actually, Tony couldn’t recall a time where Loki had stayed even so much as 24 hours. How was he masking his disappearances? When he asked, Loki smirked. 

“I can make doubles of myself. So, I leave one in my room to read or sleep or anything else inane. It fools Heimdall. Unfortunately, if anyone tried to come in and talk they would be able to clearly tell that it was a double if I didn’t have my concentration on it enough at the time to talk through it.” Loki explained, and Tony laughed imagining someone trying to talk to Loki’s double while they were in the middle of sex. “With Eir’s help, I figured I’d be fine for a few days before Thor would insist on checking on me after everything.” 

Oh yeah, the brothers had been in a fight. “How are you two doing?” 

“Better now,” Loki said, then grimaced. “I broke his cheekbone.” 

“Seriously?” Tony asked, Loki nodded solemnly. “That’s some brotherly love. Or is that how all siblings fight on Asgard? Are you ok?” 

Loki laughed as Tony started checking him over for injuries. “It was days ago, so you wouldn’t be able to tell. He cracked my jaw. He also hit my temple and knocked me out for a second. Nothing major.” 

Tony snorted, yeah, being knocked out was nothing major. Freaking aliens. 

“I healed Thor, it was actually what got through my block. Eir suspected that it might just be Thor. That it was because I love the oaf. But then I healed you...” Loki trailed off, his face going appalled for a second at his words before falling into a calm mask again. Yeah, Tony wasn’t touching that with a ten-foot pole. 

The universe was on his side because his watched beeped. Then he realized that the sounds indicated an emergency, which it would have to be or FRIDAY wouldn’t have let it through anyways. 

“FRIDAY, who is it?” Tony asked. 

“It’s Mr. Parker, sir.” FRIDAY answered. Crap! Tony answered it. 

“Hey Pete! You ok?” 

“Sorry to bother you, Mr. Stark.” Peter responded in a whisper that was soft enough that Tony had to gesture to FRIDAY to turn up the volume. 

“No worries, kid. What’s up?” Tony tried to portray as much calm as possible when his brain was screaming for the kid to hurry up and explain what was wrong already. Loki too was tense and alert at his side. 

“I thought they were just some scavengers selling more alien tech, but when I confronted them, well there were a lot of them. Like more than twenty now. And they have some serious weaponry. I’m pinned down; I could really use some help.” 

Tony turned to Loki, eyes wide. Fuck. They were in Malibu; it would take him hours to fly to New York at his fastest possible speed in his suit. 

“Tell him we’ll be there shortly.” Loki said. He got out of bed and was immediately dressed in his new leather and armor getup that he was wearing when Tony first saw him again. 

Tony relayed this to Peter without thinking, ignoring the question of who ‘we’ included and wincing at the desperate relief in Peter’s voice when he said he’d wait. Then Tony hung up. 

“Are you sure?” Tony asked Loki then. 

“I can teleport you there far faster than any of your means of transportation.” Loki said as he tossed his knives in an arc and caught them again in a move that seemed way too easy. 

“But Asgard?” Tony asked. 

“Can do without me a bit longer. You forget, I do care about the little spider as well.” Loki said, which was true. Tony had kinda forgotten that Loki knew Peter at least a bit from that alternate timeline. 

So, Tony nodded and tapped on the reactor which started the flow of his suit over his body, starting with the helmet this time. A few seconds later he was ready and nodded to Loki. Loki put a hand on Tony’s shoulder and suddenly they were in what appeared to be a darkened warehouse. Tony turned on his night vision and scanned the room. The room was about the size of a football field. There were boxes stacked around and some defunct equipment in the northern corner, otherwise it looked abandoned. Tony noted five possible contacts on the HUD before concentrating on where Peter was. 

Based on Loki’s usually precise teleportation, the guy could pop right into Tony’s lap after all, they should be right next to Peter. Tony was about to tap his internal mic when Loki got his attention, pointing behind Tony to the large stack of crates at their back. Tony followed Loki behind them and there was Peter, crouching. 

“How did you do that?” Tony whispered to Loki, once he had seen Spiderman and was able to relax the barest bit. 

“I knew he must be right next to us. I saw the crates; it was obvious.” Loki shrugged, as he usually did when revealing some awesome alien trait. 

“But how did you see the crates? Do you have, like, x-ray vision?” Peter piped in. Tony expected Loki to be annoyed at the further interrogation of his powers. But as he did last time when Peter was involved, Loki’s patience surprised Tony. 

“No, I just see well in the dark.” Loki said with a small smile and left it at that. 

“So, what’s the situation?” Tony asked Peter then. 

“I ditched them into this warehouse. I think there are maybe six in here looking for me, the rest are outside waiting.” Peter informed them. 

Loki grinned in his scary shark. “We should go greet them.” He said, pulling out his knives again. 

Peter took a half step back, leery of the scary alien who broke New York’s obvious glee in the face of violence. 

“No killing, if you can help it.” Tony ordered. Loki gave him a derisive look. “I’m serious. We’re the good guys.” 

“Does being the good guys require being absurd? If you do not take them out, you chance attack from behind.” Loki pointed out with more venom than Tony felt like he needed for the situation. 

“I know you know how to incapacitate without killing.” Tony responded. Loki rolled his eyes but vanished his daggers. He held up his empty hands in a ‘see? I’m listening’ gesture that made Tony huff with soft laughter. 

“Alrighty, I’m guessing these guys weren’t prepared with the night vision or they’d be over by now. We’ll take them out quickly and quietly and then re-group before heading outside for the rest.” Tony told the team. It felt good. It had been so long since he’d worked out his superhero muscles. 

“Done,” Loki said as soon as he popped back next to them. Tony hadn’t even realized he had gone. 

“What do you mean?” Peter asked. 

“I hit them with a sleeping spell. They really shouldn’t have been all grouped together that closely. It won't work for the ones outside, they are far too spread out and the wind is too fast, but these at least wont wake for several hours.” Loki shrugged, because of course he did. 

“Well, awesome!” Tony said, a little taken aback. He was expecting at least a bit of combat. They start walking to the exit of the warehouse. 

“Can I keep him?” Spiderman quipped, managing to portray awe with that mask of his. 

“He’s mine. Get your own.” Tony responded good-naturedly. Loki, for his part, just rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. 

“Will you at least leave some of the other ones to me? It’s been a while; I was hoping to stretch my muscles.” 

“As you wish, darling.” Loki said with only the barest bit of sarcasm. Tony was pretty glad that no one could see his face inside the mask because he was definitely blushing. 

“Uh, Mr. Stark?” Peter asked questioningly. 

“I’m in a relationship with your mentor, little spider. What do you think of that?” 

“Hey, if he trusts you, I trust you,” was all Peter said. Tony beamed with pride; he knew Pete was a good kid. 

Once they had gotten to the exit of the warehouse, Tony turned to Loki. 

“Did you check on how many were outside while you were doing your teleporting thing?” 

“Of course,” Loki snorted. “Twenty-four of them. They are all spread along this wall and the northern as well. They are dressed as those men who attacked you; I believe they may also be from AIM.” 

“Oh, screw AIM. This is so on.” Tony had wanted a little payback. This would be sweet. 

“Who’s AIM?” Spiderman asked. 

“Advanced Idea Mechanics,” Tony responded. “Guys who think that they should get to do whatever they want because they are furthering science by selling their technology to the highest bidder; which as it so happens tends to be the worst of the worst. They are also pretty loose with what they define as ‘their’ technology. They decided the best way to steal FRIDAY last year was to kill me.” Looking back, though, it was actually a bit hard to be mad at them; Tony wasn’t sure what would have happened if Loki hadn’t had a reason to drop everything and make sure Tony stayed alive. 

“Well then, I’m glad I called you!” Peter responded. 

“Alrighty, here’s the deal, Loki you teleport and take the group on the northern side. Pete, you and I will take this side. Whoever finishes first helps out the other. Sound good?” Tony went into plan mode. 

Loki grinned and teleported off without a word. 

“He’s going to finish first, isn’t he?” Spiderman asked Iron Man. 

“Show off,” Tony muttered. “Let’s do this.” 

With that, Tony deployed his shield and burst through the door. Peter was right behind him, deploying a web so that he came through the door launching into the air. They immediately met a rain of bullets, but it was fortunately nothing that his shield couldn’t handle. On a pause in the firing, Tony raised his right arm at a pair of men and sent a hooked cable to wrap them together. His left hand sent a repulsor that swiftly knocked out three more. 

Two of the more forward guys got cocky and advanced on him. 

“Seriously guys?” Tony asked, he literally had a repulsor pointed at their faces, which were not well covered. At this range, he’d definitely kill them; they were fortunate he was the good guy. “Night night,” he said instead, hitting them with a knockout gas. 

The rest of the men seemed to have either had their guns stolen by Spiderman or decided they weren’t particularly effective anyways. One guy actually tried to go for Spiderman with a knife, possibly to cut through the web, as if a regular knife could do that. He was far enough away that Tony could get him with a repulsor, so he did, smirking as he was able to get the three surrounding guys at the same time. Seriously, this was too easy. 

He turned to the remaining three to find them already wrapped up neat and tight in webbing. Tony held out his hand for Peter to high five in celebration, when he realized that Loki hadn’t shown up yet. They’d had fourteen guys so that meant Loki had taken on ten. That shouldn’t have been too much trouble for him, right? He started running to the north side, Peter right behind him. 

They turned the corner in time to see Loki flying backwards through a wall of green flames. He briefly went skidding across the ground but was on his feet immediately. He looked seriously pissed, stalking back through the flames like they were nothing, ignoring Tony’s panicked, involuntary shout. Tony ran up to the wall of unnaturally green fire, but he stepped back due to the amazing heat. He thought his suit should be able to withstand it, Loki apparently could. As he debated, he heard gunfire inside. He was just about to walk in when Loki came stalking out, practically growling. 

“They had some sort of weapon that fired an invisible wall of energy. It was tedious.” Loki told Tony, obviously annoyed that he hadn’t finished first. 

“Pulse cannon, most likely.” Tony responded, glad that the helmet hid his smirk. 

That was, of course, when some boxes stacked near the wall of the warehouse burst into more green flames that licked the roof of the building menacingly. Tony, Peter and Loki were all thrown back a bit by the blastwave. Tony and Peter jumped up immediately, prepared to take on the inferno, Loki just stayed in an undignified sprawl on his ass looking slightly bemused. 

That was when the flames caught the roof and spread far faster than any real fire should have. Tony blinked, and the entire warehouse was aflame. Tony Stark, no stranger to unintended fire, was prepared. He immediately spread flame retardant over the area, which took quite a while since the warehouse was enormous, until they were blessedly flame free. They were also kinda warehouse free, smoking charred remains were all that were left. 

“How the hell did you make it to 1,000 years old?” Tony spluttered at Loki then. Yes, he realized he was definitely the pot in this situation, but still. “Do you just wing it and hope for the best?” 

“I don’t just wing it. That’s Thor’s thing.” Loki responded with a derisive sneer as he got up and dusted himself off. “I always have a plan, it just tends to...” 

“Explode?” Tony finished for him. Every day the chaos that was Loki’s invasion was making more and more sense. 

“Often spectacularly so,” Loki nodded, looking a little wide eyed at the charred ground where the crates had once been. In the center of the ring of charred ground were ten men all held together by something invisible. Tony could only tell that they were being held because they were struggling against their bonds. Loki also gestured to the men sleeping in the remains of the warehouse who must have been shielded from the fire by some sort of forcefield. Which had to have been really quick thinking actually. “However, you must note that I didn’t kill anyone.” 

“Congratulations!” Tony said, his voice dripping with sarcasm, mostly to hide the laughter that wanted to burst from him. Seeing Loki so frustrated when he was usually all cool and confident was absolutely adorable. “Remind me to find your merit badge.” 

“Uh guys, not that I don’t love the banter, but we should probably get out of here first.” Peter interrupted, as they started to hear sirens. 

Yeah, between this mission not exactly going according to standard operating procedures; Tony’s relationship with Ross with all the Accords drama and Loki’s presence, it was probably not a good idea to stick around for the authorities. Tony nodded to Loki who put a hand on each of their shoulders. Next thing Tony knew they were in the living room of his tower. 

Immediately, Tony starting checking Loki for wounds: bullet holes, burns, cuts. The silence was vast and made Tony realize what he was doing. Loki was looking at him with a wry grin. Peter, who had taken off his mask, was very specifically looking anywhere else. 

“You do realize that I am far sturdier than you mortals, yes?” Loki huffed, but the tone was fond. 

“You walked through fire!” Tony countered. “Your clothing should be singed at least.” 

“It was my own fire. It would be inopportune if I could be hurt by my own weapon.” 

“Inopportune, he says! You’re crazy, you know that?” Tony’s jaw snapped shut after he realized what he had just said. That definitely wasn’t the sensitivity training response. 

“I’m sorry, have you met me?” Loki responded, which had Tony giggling with a heady mix of relief and mania until Loki was starting to look at him with concern. 

“Pete, you ok?” Tony asked once he could finally talk again. 

“Yeah, Mr. Stark.” Peter grinned at him sheepishly. “Thank you guys so much for your help!” 

“Anytime, kid, you know that.” Tony responded. 

“Yes, I’m sorry I didn’t see you in battle, little spider. But I’m sure you’ll be a great ally against Thanos.” Loki added. 

“Thanos?” Peter asked, looking at Tony with a confused expression. 

“He is not helping with Thanos.” Tony insisted. 

“Why not?” Both Loki and Peter countered. 

“Because he’s a kid. Kid’s don’t drink, do drugs or fight alien overlords.” Tony replied. Seriously, his...no ‘the’ kid was not prepared for something this big. 

“But...Mr. Stark...” Peter wheedled. 

“No, Pete. I’m serious. This is heavy stuff. Hell, Loki is scared of this guy.” Peter looked over at Loki questioningly. Loki shrugged and reluctantly nodded. 

“But what if that is why you need me?” Peter said, turning to Loki this time. 

Loki met eyes with Tony who tried to convey “HELL NO” as clearly as possible with just his eyes. “I’m sorry, I would be honored to have you fight by our sides, but I am not your guardian. This is Stark’s call, not mine.” 

Tony wasn’t so sure about the title ‘guardian’, but he guessed that it was fitting enough. Better than something ridiculous like ‘ward’. 

“We should be getting you home, kid, before your Aunt starts worrying and decides to come after me.” Tony Stark could change the subject with the best of them. 

“I could drop him off at his home, as I was on the way to Asgard anyways. Unless you’d like me to drop you back off in Malibu first?” Loki offered. 

“No, I was planning on coming back to New York anyways. My pilot is going to be a bit confused, but hey, that’s why I pay him the big bucks.” Tony said, then narrowed his eyes at the two of them. “You aren’t going to conspire as soon as you have me out of the way, are you?” 

Loki tsked. “So suspicious, Stark. Don’t you trust me?” 

“With my life,” Tony answered immediately, which brought a surprised, pleased smile to Loki’s face. Worth it. But he couldn’t resist adding, “With everything else...you tend to do what you want.” 

Loki laughed at that. “So, you do still have some semblance of sanity. I promise I won't conspire with the little spider.” 

“Do you really need to keep calling me little spider?” Peter asked. 

“Romanoff is the big spider, I’m afraid that makes you little spider.” Loki said completely unapologetically. 

Tony snorted, “I can’t wait to hear you call Romanoff ‘big spider’.” 

‘’Say goodbye to your mentor, little spider. This may be the last time you see him intact if he keeps daring to tease a god.” 

Loki did haughty better than anyone Tony had ever seen, but it didn’t stop him from laughing. Peter looked between the two of them, a mixture of amused and embarrassed. 

“Can you two lovebirds either quit it or get a room? Sheesh.” Peter said, rolling his eyes and coughing exasperatedly as only a teenager can. 

That definitely shut them both up. That word just kept coming up. Tony sensed that he couldn’t ignore it forever. But hey, now wasn’t forever, right?


	16. Why Then, Can One Desire Too Much of a Good Thing?

Loki didn’t even bother to try to mask the pleased grin he couldn’t seem to keep off his face as he walked into the council meeting. He was starting to get concerned that he had somehow become ill with some disease that presented in facial freezing. It was the only logical explanation. It certainly wasn’t because he and Tony had reconciled. It couldn’t possibly have anything to do with the fact that they had spent three entire days in each other’s company and still desired more. 

Loki was late, as intended, so of course four faces turned immediately to him when he walked in the door. The reactions to his smile were as varied as they were satisfying. Valkyrie looked suspicious. Heimdall looked confused. To most, Heimdall looked how he always did, but reading his very minute reactions was something that had been in Loki’s best interest in the past, so he was quite good at determining that slight pinching between the eyes as confusion. Eir looked pleased, and more than a little smug. Thor looked hopeful. 

“I see your vacation has agreed with you, brother.” Thor said as Loki sat down. 

“Vacation?” That had been forever ago. 

Thor looked over at Eir; ah, of course. 

“Eir had said you needed time to yourself, I suppose I dubbed it a vacation based on our conversation previously.” 

“That would be a staycation.” Blank looks from the Asgardian’s all around. Really? How did they expect to survive in Midgardian culture if they didn’t do anything to familiarize themselves? Then again, they didn’t have the minefield of references that was conversation with Tony Stark to contend with. “It’s where you take time off from work, but don’t go anywhere. Vacation implies that you went somewhere fun.” 

“Ah, yes. Well, thank you for that vocabulary lesson, Loki.” Thor said with a bemused grin. Then the smile widened to something smugger. Well that look never meant anything good for Loki. “Speaking of lessons, we are in need of another teacher for the school, mostly with the older kids. You’ve done so well with Gunnar and Runa; you seem to enjoy giving us all lessons, I thought you would be the ideal candidate.” 

Well, damn. That may have been the very last thing Loki was expecting. His first inclination was to decline anything that could put that superior of a look on his brother’s face, but he actually wanted to say yes. He wasn’t normally one for structure and this would require a lot of his time. Time that he could be otherwise spending with Tony. But then again, school didn’t last all day, he would still have his evenings. This could also keep him from having to take up tedious tasks from Thor designed just to keep him busy; of course, Thor thought he was clueless about their intent. 

“That certainly sounds intriguing. Would you allow me a few days to consider?” Loki said finally, not wanting to jump into a decision. 

Thor beamed; he had obviously been expecting a no, which was perfectly fair. “Of course, but we’re hoping to start up next week so don’t take too long.” 

The rest of the matters discussed were of no interest to Loki, so he spent the rest of the meeting trying to come to a decision on what he wanted to do. Then he realized that he had a lesson with Gunnar and Runa that afternoon that he wasn’t at all prepared for. The lessons had gotten a bit more difficult as Runa was progressing slightly faster than Gunnar, so he had to split his time between them. Runa had quickly moved on to conjuring, while Gunnar had been stuck on trying to make ice for several weeks. The boy was great with fire, water, air, pretty much everything but ice. That extra step of removing the heat from the water kept stopping him up and Loki hadn’t yet figured out a way to help. Ice had come quite naturally to Loki, surprise surprise. 

Next thing Loki knew everyone was getting up from their chairs, so he followed suit. Still pondering Gunnar’s problem, Loki didn’t notice he had a shadow for an embarrassingly long period of time. He looked to the side as he turned a corner to make sure he wasn’t running into anyone and visibly startled when he noticed Heimdall beside him. 

“How long have you been there?” Loki accused. 

“How long do you think?” Heimdall asked. “You are normally far more observant.” 

“Yes, well. We can’t all have the gift of sight.” Loki muttered. 

“Indeed,” Was all Heimdall said, but he continued to shadow the trickster. 

Loki tried to remain silent, he knew this ploy. He did not want to fall into this trap. But the closeness of a man who had always stood in judgement over him got to be too much to bear. 

“Can I help you with anything?” Loki asked finally. At least he was polite about it. 

“Often in the past few months I have turned my gaze to you in your rooms.” Heimdall started. 

“Am I supposed to be embarrassed? It’s a perfectly natural thing to do. It’s both fun and stress relieving.” Loki said, trying to embarrass the watcher. Of course, it didn’t work. “That is, if you aren’t a robot.” 

“You often appear less industrious than I would expect.” Heimdall said, completely ignoring Loki’s comments. 

“Less industrious? I am not sure how to take that. Are you saying I don’t spend my own personal time wisely enough? Perhaps I’ve rotted my brain with too much internet. It’s the new television you know.” 

“You do seem to spend an inordinate amount of time on that personal electronic screen you have.” Heimdall said. “If that is indeed, what you are actually doing.” 

The back of Loki’s neck started to prickle. He always had his clone vary what it was doing, whether reading, playing on the tablet, sleeping or otherwise. Loki suspected that three days of doing only a few activities had just been too suspicious. 

“You do realize the only reason you can see into my room is because I allow it right? I didn’t do it so that you could judge how I spend my free time.” Loki shot back aggressively. 

“No, you do it because you know that we would be suspicious otherwise.” Heimdall said, not at all affected. Of course, Loki had no response to that because it was exactly why. Heimdall being able to look upon Loki while he was in New Asgard was the only reason Thor believed that he was actually staying put this whole time. 

“Well, I will do my best to make your voyeuristic activities more amusing for you in the future.” He really would have his clone masturbate, just so that Heimdall would be uncomfortable. Loki smiled internally as he imagined all the interesting ways he could do so for Heimdall’s viewing pleasure. There were oh so many options when you could be both male and female. 

They walked silently for a few minutes more; apparently Heimdall was not finished. 

“Do you suppose we’ll be seeing Stark here again soon?” Heimdall finally asked. Loki visibly startled at the name and cursed himself. Damn gatekeeper with his damn magic observance. 

“I’m not sure why you would be asking me, he’s Thor’s shield brother. What brought him to your mind?” Loki said, completely playing off his suspicious reaction. 

“We were able to set up our own lighting,” Heimdall mentioned, gesturing to the lights above them with a nod. “It made me think of the power he set up for us. You both seemed to get along well when he was here, despite your prior avoidance of him. I thought perhaps you two continued to communicate.” 

He knew! How the Hel did he know? Loki couldn’t think of anything beyond what Eir had seen, but that wouldn’t have set Heimdall off, he didn’t know Loki that well. Could he have looked in on Tony when Loki wasn’t there? Perhaps Tony had been talking about him? Loki’s mind raced with the possibilities, the ramifications, but then he caught Heimdall’s expression out of the corner of his eye and his mind slammed to a halt. Was the man actually smiling at him? It was just barest bit of one, a softening of the eye, a quirk of the lip, but it was actually a smile and Heimdall was actually directing at him; it was a first. Loki wasn’t sure if this was better for him or worse. Well, when all else fails, deny, deny, deny. 

“He was amusing for a mortal, and quite a good kisser, but Thor made it very clear that I was to have no further contact.” 

“Because you always do as your brother wishes.” 

“I do as my king wishes.” Loki countered. 

“When it suits you.” 

“Because you’ve never disobeyed your king.” Loki snorted, remembering several times in the last decade or so. Then again, at least Heimdall always believed he was acting in the best interests of Asgard. Loki certainly couldn’t say the same. 

Heimdall’s smile just got a minute fraction wider at that. “Good luck with your lessons.” Heimdall nodded and walked away. 

Loki only realized just then that he was standing in front of his classroom. He was in a bit of a daze. That interaction had been off-putting to say the least. He had no idea what Heimdall had wanted, but he hadn’t seemed suspicious or disapproving. But either way, Loki resolved to never be gone for longer than a night again. He knew that the relationship would come out eventually, but he could keep that little bit of bliss for himself for a bit longer. 

“You’re late,” chided the small voice of Runa as Loki walked in. 

“Yes, yes, it was unavoidable. I have responsibilities other than just looking after you brats.” Loki countered. Runa stuck her tongue out at him. Loki suppressed a grin, “You do realize you are proving my point?” 

Gunnar rolled his eyes at the two of them and Loki had to admit, at least to himself, that the boy was probably the most mature of the three. He was dutifully sitting in meditation position in the middle of the room. 

“You were gone for days!” Runa whined unapologetically. 

“Yes, so now that I am here, we shouldn’t waste time.” Loki calmly sat down in front of Gunnar so that he was facing the boy and closed his eyes, ignoring Runa. 

The girl was looking to inspire some guilt and Loki wouldn’t reward that by showing that she had succeeded. He had missed his two students during his sulking and subsequent reconciliation absences. Still, as petulant as the girl was being, she was also eager to start back, and it wasn’t more than a moment before Loki heard her scramble to sit on the floor as well. 

Loki no longer needed to lead the two through the meditation exercises, so the room was silent as they cleared their minds and centered themselves. Loki got up first but waited for the other two to finish. When they opened their eyes, it was to Loki giving them a very large grin. 

“Oh, that can’t be good.” Runa noted as Gunnar groaned. 

“Gunnar, we’ll be taking a break from the ice today. Well, you will be at least. Today we’re working on manipulating pure energy to create barriers. Basically, force fields. And to test this I am going to have you try to generate the field and I am going to throw things at you to see if they bounce off.” Loki didn’t even bother to hide the glee in his voice. 

“You’re just doing this to punish me.” Runa accused. 

“How dare you!” Loki gasped. “I am a teacher. I have a lesson plan and everything. I would never manipulate something so precious for mere spite.” 

“Thanks a lot, Runa.” Gunnar moaned, and Loki laughed at that. 

“You’ll want to pay close attention,” Loki chided finally and started showing the two how to go about creating their shields. Now that they had the elements down, mostly, and, more importantly, the concepts behind their creation, it was much easier for them to pick up new concepts quickly. Soon, Loki could see the tell-tale shimmer in front of both of his students. 

“Excellent. Now for the hard part.” Loki said, as he conjured a chair and lounged in a casual way that would annoy the kids as he tore down their shields. “Shields up!” 

Loki grinned straight at Gunnar as he pulled back his arm and pelted a snowball at Runa. The wavy force in front of her dissipated in a flurry of blue sparks. 

“Hey! That’s not fair, I thought you were starting with Gunnar.” Runa yelled. 

While Gunnar was distracted by laughing at Runa, Loki threw a snowball at him, the snow smacking into his face as the red magic of his shield did nothing to stop it. 

“What’s my first lesson?” Loki asked. 

“You aren’t the master of anything.” Runa chimed. Loki pelted her with another snowball for good measure. Predictably, she spluttered. 

“My actual first lesson, smarty-pants.” 

“Life isn’t fair, so why should you be?” Gunnar responded. 

Loki nodded at him. “If either of you decide to train as warriors...” 

“I’m a girl,” Runa interrupted. 

“He’s a boy and he’s learning magic. Who cares?” Loki gestured to Gunnar and rolled his eyes. This wasn’t the first conversation they’d had about gender stereotypes and it likely wouldn’t be the last. “Anyways, if either of you choose to be warriors you’ll hear a lot about fighting fair, and you can show whatever morals and standards you want in training, but when it comes down to it and it’s your life on the line, don’t bother yourself with fair. Stay alive.” 

Both of his student’s faces went serious and contemplative at the sudden change in tone. They had been learning spells mostly in a vacuum; rarely had Loki brought up the purpose of learning magic and for good reason, they were still young. But young wouldn’t stop men like Thanos and these children had already seen death and destruction, even if some of it got re-written. If Loki could teach them anything, that would be it. But a few minutes of thought was enough serious for now. 

“First person to block a snowball gets to pick the trick for today.” Loki offered and once again his students were fixed in concentration, the competition spurring them on. 

 

'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'

 

Several nights later, Loki was in Stark’s dining room picking at his Panang Curry with his chopsticks. Loki had discovered that he loved Thai food, loved how they mixed so much sweet into their dishes. Tony had curry as well, but it was some ridiculously spicy monstrosity Loki didn’t want to go anywhere near. Currently, they were discussing the possibility of him teaching. 

“You can’t pretend you don’t enjoy it, not with me.” Tony said, wildly gesturing with his chopsticks and getting rice everywhere. “I’ve seen your face when you talk about those kids. You couldn’t be prouder if they were yours.” 

“True,” Loki acknowledged with a smile, waving his hand to send the bits of rice to the trash. Tony grinned at him sheepishly. “I just can’t help thinking that I’m not...” Loki paused, trying to think of the word. “I hate to use the word worthy, but...” 

“Has either Gunnar or Runa’s parents said anything? Had any issues with your teaching?” Tony asked. 

“No, actually all four have come to me at some point to thank me. Apparently, Runa used to be shy.” 

Tony burst out laughing, much as Loki had done at that news. Tony had heard enough stories about Runa mouthing off to Loki during lessons. Loki was a little concerned that he wasn’t being a great influence as he never discouraged her from doing so unless it directly interfered with the lesson. He had been gratified by the praise anyways. 

“So, what’s the problem?” Tony said then. 

The problem was, though they seemed to be able to forgive the King’s villainous little brother, how could they possibly forgive a Frost Giant alone with their children? Could he really trust himself? It all felt too much like hopes he had given up long ago. 

“Did you ever want children, Stark?” Loki asked, as the question popped into his head. It was apparently a big surprise to Tony as he coughed on the water he had been in the middle of drinking. 

“Where did that come from?” Stark asked when he could finally breathe again to talk. 

“Don’t deflect the question,” Loki reprimanded. 

“Your question was a deflection of my question. I deflect your deflection.” Tony responded, grinning. 

“Growing up, it was just a given that I would marry and have children.” Loki offered. 

“With a woman?” Tony asked with a waggle of his eyebrows. Loki threw a napkin at him. 

“Of course, with a woman. I wasn’t going to bear the children. I have no interest in that.” Loki said, wrinkling his nose in disgust at the thought. 

Tony’s face went weirdly blank. “It honestly didn’t occur to me that you could get pregnant.” 

“When I shift into a woman it’s not an illusion, I actually become female. With all the benefits and all the consequences.” Loki wasn’t sure what the look on Tony’s face meant, but he knew he didn’t like it. 

“I’ve never wanted kids. You know, with everything with my dad.” Tony said finally. Oh, Loki knew. Tony had told Loki enough for him to wonder whose father had been worse. After a few minutes of silence, Tony started again. “No, no reason to pass on those genes.” 

“But?” Loki prodded, knowing there was more to that face Tony was making. 

“Working with Peter in the lab,” Tony said finally, a grin coming to his face. “The kid’s crazy smart and brave and just a good kid.” 

“And he just worships you.” Loki said fondly. “I think you would make a good father.” 

“There’s a big difference between hanging out with a kid sometimes and being a dad. Plus, my kid would definitely not be like Peter. I’d probably get a kid exactly like me.” 

“Because you aren’t crazy smart and brave and a good person?” Loki countered. 

“Well, two out of three isn’t too bad.” Tony said, but before Loki could argue, he asked a baffling question that stopped Loki’s tongue. “Did you actually want kids or just accept that you were having them?” 

“I wanted them, I think.” Loki started. “I don’t know. Honestly, that Loki seems like an entirely different person to me now. It’s hard to tell. I was so focused on my place, my worth, my father’s regard. I think I had fooled myself into wanting and doing a lot of things.” 

Tony nodded. “So, is that what this teaching thing feels like? Fooling yourself because it’s what Thor wants? Because being a dad was what your dad wanted for you?” 

“You’re disconcertingly insightful.” Loki accused with narrowed eyes. 

Tony laughed. “That’s a first. I just know you.” 

Tony said it like it was nothing, just a given. But Loki was fairly sure someone truly knowing him was a first. Hel, Loki wasn’t sure he had ever really known himself. He was starting to, though. 

“I’m going to do it.” Loki resolved. 

“Well cheers to that, princess!” Tony said, and they clinked Loki’s wineglass to the inventor’s lowball glass of Scotch. 

“Thor will be so pleased, damn it.” Loki said 

“Well we can’t have everything.” 

“Says the billionaire, genius, playboy philanthropist.” 

“Not so much with the playboy anymore.” Tony grinned, not seeming to be disappointed by that at all. 

“Really? And who could possibly have made the great Tony Stark settle down?” Loki purred at him, rubbing Tony’s thigh with his bare foot under the table. 

“Oh, no one short of a god.” Tony responded promptly before pulling Loki into his lap for a long kiss that promised far better things to come. 

 

'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'

 

Loki was standing in a wide green field. He was surrounded by white buildings and black pavement. There were trees in the distance in all directions except behind the biggest of the buildings, which was built on a lake. On that building was a distinct A that Loki had come to know as the Avenger’s symbol. 

Suddenly, the blue sky turned to orange and the trees and surroundings erupted in flames. Loki took a step to run, but the crunch under his feet was definitely not grass. Loki looked down and the entire field was covered in broken bodies. His sight blurred as he looked into Tony’s open, but dead eyes. There was Thor and Eir. Peter and Bruce. Gunnar and Runa’s little bodies were almost completely buried under Heimdall and Valkyrie. 

It was the Statesman all over again. He thought he had escaped it. He thought he had fixed everything. 

“You’re too smart for that, little god. You know your plans never succeed.” Loki knew who that voice belonged to, low and confident. He would never forget it. He didn’t need to spin around to see the cold eyes, the purple skin. He still turned, his body moving without his permission to look at that smiling face. 

“I stopped this from happening once, I can do it again.” Loki tried to imbue his voice with all the confidence he didn’t feel. 

“You thought you’d fixed it in time. You only delayed the inevitable, it was always going to come to this.” 

“Yet, I’ve already stopped your true goal. The Mind and Space Stones are destroyed. You will never have the power you seek.” 

“Are you so sure?” Thanos asked, raising his golden fist to show six perfect stones. Then Thanos snapped his fingers. 

Loki woke up with a jerk. His heart raced as his brain struggled out of the fog of the dream to come into the present. But then he felt Tony’s arms around him, had Tony’s smell in his nose, Tony’s voice in his ear whispering that it was ok, that he was safe. Gradually his heart rate slowed, his breathing smoothed out and his thoughts solidified. 

“You ok?” Stark asked when he could feel that Loki was calm. 

“Yes,” Loki said automatically, but he wasn’t very sure. “That was new.” 

“Hmmm?” Tony asked sleepily. 

“The dream. Normally they’re just variations on my past. This one was different, felt different. I was at the Avenger’s compound. I’ve never been there before.” 

Tony was completely awake now. “Are you sure it was the compound?” 

Loki thought about it. “No, I’ve never seen a picture of it before. Do you have one?” 

“Sure,” Stark got out of bed, pulling on some soft, plaid pants. Loki did the same, though not plaid and with his magic. 

Tony grabbed his tablet from the desk. He did a quick couple of motions on the screen before handing it to Loki. It was a picture of the place in his dream. It was exactly the same, minus the fire and bodies. Loki nodded to Tony before handing the tablet back to him. 

“So, what does that mean? Was it a prophesy or something? Have you dreamt about the future before?” Tony asked. 

“I don’t know. Prophesy is definitely not one of my gifts. My mother had premonitions sometimes, but she said they were tricky. Often, they were so difficult to decipher, they didn’t make sense until after what they were foretelling came to pass. Otherwise, I believe many things would have gone differently.” 

“But the Avenger’s compound seems pretty clear. It’s going down there, right?” 

“It would appear that way. But Thanos also had all the Infinity Stones, which we know can’t be true.” Loki sighed. “That’s assuming this even is prophesy, which is a big assumption. More than likely this is just a manifestation of my fears.” 

“I think that we should start prepping anyways. Get everyone together.” 

“What we should do is get back to bed, Stark. It’s the middle of the night.” Loki tried to gently pull Tony back to the bed, but he was having none of it. 

“You say that like it means something to me.” Tony replied with a small smile. 

“It means little to me as well, but we can’t go waking people up to warn them about Thanos. It can wait until the morning.” 

“Ok, you’re right.” Tony whined, but just before he got back into bed he hopped up again. “Wait, I have something to show you. Maybe it will make you feel a bit better.” 

“And it can’t wait until morning?” Loki groaned. 

“No, it can. But I think you’ll sleep easier.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my, have we found the plot again?
> 
> Also, Roll credits!


	17. God Hath Given You One Face and You Make Yourself Another

Loki followed Tony down to the lab with all the patience of, well Tony couldn’t think of a good opposite of a saint for the idiom. Sinners weren’t inherently impatient. With all the patience of a historically impatient person, a Tony Stark if you will. Tony had actually just finished the anti-magic device a few days after their marathon reunion sex session and he hadn’t had a chance to show Loki yet. This seemed like the perfect way to show that no matter what Thanos threw at them, they could figure out a way to stop him. Tony couldn’t wait to see Loki’s face when his magic just bounced off nothing. 

Loki allowed himself to be led by the hand to the lab where Tony placed him on the couch since he still looked a bit tired and out of it from his nightmare. 

“So, this is what you’ve been hiding.” Loki noted as Tony started rummaging through one of his desk drawers. Tony winced, damn, Loki could tell? How could he always tell? 

Device in hand Tony turned to Loki, but he didn’t look mad, just curious. Tony held the device up pointing to the side so Loki could see the profile. The curious look turned dubious. 

“Well Stark, I must admit that I never considered going after Thanos with a gun.” Loki said deadpan. “Your genius astounds.” 

“Really? How could you mistake this for a regular gun?” Looking at it with the rectangular black plastic base and lengthened barrel it kinda looked like a P-90 if you put a silencer on it that expanded to a cone at the end of the barrel; ok, if you weren’t a gun person probably you would just think this was a gun. 

“My apologies, Stark, dazzle me.” 

Tony flipped the switch on the right of the device to fire it up. The machine whined with a sound like an old wind up camera’s flash charging. “On the count of three, throw some magic at me. Something harmless in case I totally failed, but easy to see.” 

Loki gave him the eyebrow but nodded. 

“Ok, on three, two, one!” Tony pressed the trigger on the one as Loki threw his hand out. Green sparks flew from his finger but after traveling a few feet fizzled into nothing. 

Tony threw his hands up in the air and whooped gleefully. He looked to Loki to see the god’s reaction when he found out that his magic was no match for Tony’s genius tech. Loki was definitely frowning in a ‘what did that mortal do now?’ kind of way that made Tony grin. 

Then the confused frown turned into a grimace of pain. Loki bent down and wrapped his arms around his stomach like he was going to be sick. 

“What did you do?” Loki grunted, and he dropped sideways onto the couch, his legs tucked in front of his stomach. 

“It’s a magic shield generator, basically. Loki, what’s wrong?” Tony disarmed and dropped the device down on the table and ran over to the couch, bending over the god. 

“Turn it off,” Loki groaned and then he started shaking. Tony thought Loki looked like he was going to be sick; the shivers wracked the god’s entire body. 

“It’s off.” Tony told him, running his hands through Loki’s hair. The sorcerer was sweating now, drips running into his eyes. Shit, what had he done? 

Loki held up his hands in front of his eyes and moaned as if he was seeing them for the first time and hated the sight. 

Tony didn’t understand what was going on until he saw blue start to trickle down Loki’s fingers from the fingertips. In less than a second, his entire upper arm was blue. It was so bright, like the god had just dipped his hands in paint, but it wasn’t just that his skin was changing colors, the texture was slightly different, with larger pores than his usual skin. As the color started to run down Loki’s arms, raised lines appeared, like scars but too perfect, too deliberate. 

“Please, Stark. Please stop.” Loki begged and now Tony was really freaked out. Loki didn’t beg. He’d only heard Loki plead once before, during a particularly bad nightmare. 

“I’m not doing anything. What’s happening, Lokes?” Was he dying? Was this some sort of alien disease? Tony had no idea what to do. He tried to put a hand on Loki’s still white shoulder, but Loki jerked away violently just before that shoulder turned blue. 

“Don’t touch me!” Loki hissed, but before Tony could take it personally, Loki continued. “I’ll hurt you. I don’t want to hurt you.” 

Shit! Was the blue contagious? Tony needed data, damn it. “Loki, tell me what to do!” Now he was begging too. Panic was shutting down his thoughts. Even if he knew what was happening, he wasn’t sure he had enough brainpower to fix it. Loki could die; it would be all Tony’s fault. 

Loki was completely mentally gone as well, he was now entirely blue, swirly lines and all. He had his eyes tightly shut and was just moaning ‘no’ over and over again. Tony kneeled by him, staring helplessly. He was afraid to touch, afraid to leave; he couldn’t remember ever feeling so helpless. A storm raged outside, Tony could hear the thunder shaking the glass of the tower, but it was nothing compared to the thoughts jumbling about in his brain. 

“Stark!” Called out a booming, familiar voice. Both Tony and Loki stilled at the sound. “Stark, stop! I must speak with you, please!” 

Thor sounded really worried; shit, this must be bad if he had two gods begging him. But, how did Thor know to come here in the first place? Tony looked back at Loki again and his breath caught. Loki’s eyes were open, focused on the door of the lab and they were completely red. No iris, no whites, just a black pupil in a pool of blood. It was disconcerting to say the least. 

“He can’t see me like this,” Loki said, sounding surprisingly coherent. 

“But maybe he can help.” 

Loki chuckled darkly. “He can’t help; no one can.” Those red eyes fixed on Tony’s and he squirmed uncomfortably at their intensity. “Stark, if you ever cared about me, get rid of Thor and don’t tell him about our relationship.” 

“But, how do I explain why you’re here?” Tony spluttered feeling out of his depth. 

“I don’t care; just anything but that, please.” Loki’s eyes softened for a moment and yeah, of course it was the please that did it. 

“You’ll be ok on your own for a minute?” Tony asked as he stiffly got up from his knees. Loki just nodded and closed his eyes again, shifting so that he was laying on his back, his legs thrown over the arm of the couch. Tony walked out of the lab and up the stairs to the deck Thor must have landed on. As soon as he was spotted, Thor stalked over to Tony, frantic, grabbing his shoulders. 

“Please Stark, I don’t know what my brother has done to you, but please don’t kill him.” 

How did he always manage to be the bad guy? “Hey big guy, I have no intentions of killing your little bro. Why would you think that?” 

Thor sighed, some of the tension dissipating, but he kept his hands on Tony’s shoulders. “Heimdall sensed a disturbance. He turned his gaze to see you pointing a weapon at Loki and he collapsed. Is he injured?” 

Ok, Tony could kinda see where that looked bad. “Uh he’s... um...he’s not dead.” Tony managed. Brilliant Tony, but seriously? How could he say Loki was ok when he had no idea what was going on? “He doesn’t want to see you.” 

“What do you mean? Are you trying to keep him from me?” Thor didn’t exactly brandish his big axe, but it was there in his hand and definitely looked menacing enough. 

“Look, he was helping me with a project; I wasn’t trying to hurt him, and he hasn’t done anything to me. Something went wrong? I don’t know what’s going on, but he told me to ask you to leave.” 

Ugh, Tony was completely out of his depth here. But he knew that if Heimdall could see Loki now, that wasn’t good at all. Maybe his device could have stopped Loki’s hiding magic for a moment when he fired it, but then Heimdall wouldn’t have seen Loki collapse as that was after he was done pulling the trigger. None of this made any sense. Thor seemed to agree as he was frowning deeply in confusion. 

“He was helping you with a project?” Thor asked. 

“Yeah, uh, a while back he kinda saved my life. We’ve been hanging out since.” It was mostly the truth, right? 

“I see. So, he’s been leaving New Asgard. He broke his vow.” Thor’s expression got stormier. Shit, Tony had kinda forgotten about that. Then again, Thor had already known Loki was gone, just not how often he’d been doing it. Unfortunately, there was nothing Tony could do about it at this point. Finally, Thor sighed. 

“This device you were testing on my brother, what does it do?” Thor asked finally. 

“It’s supposed to generate a shield against magic. I don’t know why it went so wrong.” Tony answered quickly. 

“Did he turn blue?” Thor asked after a moment. Tony could feel his eyes get big, but he just nodded. “He doesn’t think that I...” Thor growled before visibly calming himself. “Tell my brother that I will be waiting for him at home when he’s ready to talk.” 

“So, he’s not in trouble then?” Tony blurted. Thor shot him a seriously dark look before he just walked out to the balcony and took off. Well, that went well. 

Tony walked slowly back to the lab. Thor knew about the blue; that was interesting. He also didn’t seem to be concerned for Loki’s life, once he knew Tony wouldn’t hurt him, so obviously this wasn’t some life-threatening disease. But it was still something Loki didn’t want Thor seeing. It didn’t discount Loki’s freak out. Tony took a deep, steadying breath before entering his lab again. 

Loki seemed to have gotten at least some handle on himself by this point. He was sitting on the couch now and he wasn’t shaking anymore. When Tony closed the door to the lab behind him, Loki flinched lightly but didn’t look up. 

“Thor?” He asked, and his voice was a bit raspy, like he had been screaming. Nope, Tony wasn’t going to think too much on that. 

“He left. He said he would be waiting for you at home when you were ready to talk.” 

“What did you tell him?” Loki asked then, absolutely no emotion in his tone. 

“The basic truth. You saved my life, we became friends. You were helping me test a project. I guess Heimdall saw us, something about my device must have blocked whatever mojo you have that keeps him from seeing you. He and Thor thought I was attacking you.” 

“Yes, that would be the understandable reaction to finding a Frost Giant in your home.” Loki said softly, still not looking up. 

Frost giant. The guys Loki let into Asgard; the ones that lived on the planet Loki tried to destroy; Asgard’s enemies. It was the last piece of Loki’s story. The whole adoption thing sucked no doubt, but it was way worse to discover that you were a completely different race, and not just that but your enemy, a people that you barely view as sentient. That kind of thing might drive a guy crazy. Fuck, yeah, now it all made sense, but what the hell was Tony supposed to do about it? And why did Loki suddenly look like this when he hadn’t before? Could he even ask? Would Loki answer? Tony really needed a drink. 

Tony walked over to the little wet bar he kept in the lab, because of course Tony had alcohol in the lab, he was Tony Stark. 

“Are you leaving?” Came an abnormally small voice behind him that made Tony’s heart break a little. 

“Hey, no! I’m just getting the both of us a drink. I figured it would help with your nerves.” Tony said and quickly poured two glasses of scotch. He brought one of the glasses over to Loki and pressed it to his folded hands. Loki grabbed the glass, but Tony noticed that he was careful not to touch Tony’s hands. Now that Tony was close to the guy again, he could guess why. Loki was freezing. Not that Loki seemed to feel the cold, but he was the cold. He radiated such a chill that Tony couldn’t stop a shiver. Loki must have felt it because he pulled back and hunched more if possible, still not looking up. 

Loki didn’t drink the scotch in his hand, likely because it would force him to look up. Tony did, concentrating on the feel of the scotch burning down his throat to distract him from the situation at hand. Of course, he couldn’t stay silent forever, it was practically in his DNA. 

“This kind of explains a lot.” Tony started. 

“Care to elaborate? You know nothing of Frost Giants, so I am loathe to put words in your mouth.” Loki said in a dark tone. 

What’s that all about? Tony guessed that this had something to do with how Frost Giants were viewed in Asgard. Vicious beasts by the sounds of how Loki spoke about them. But it should be pretty obvious that Loki wasn’t like that, right? Then again, Tony thought back to Loki’s invasion. Crazy Loki did have a taste for violence. Tony wanted to groan, but he knew any reaction wouldn't be taken well right now. He was seriously not qualified for the level of therapy this should require. He was far too broken himself to be fixing anyone else. 

“It never really followed for me why you took your adoption as badly as you did. I knew there was a piece missing. This explains why you reacted so violently against Jotunheim...” 

“Why I killed Laufey?” Loki interrupted. 

Did that mean what Tony thought it meant? “He was your father?” 

“He abandoned me. Left me out in the cold to die because I was a runt. Odin found me, in the temple, when he went to get the Casket, a relic of power.” 

“Temple?” Tony asked, that just didn’t make sense. 

“Yes, temple. You have them here, what’s your issue?” Loki started to look up in his annoyance, but he caught himself and looked down again. 

“Who gets rid of something in a temple though? It’s a holy place, right? They were keeping their casket relic thing there, so why put you there as well if they just wanted to ditch you?” Tony thought aloud and then winced at how bad it sounded. But he had a point, right? 

Loki's head shot up, red eyes meeting his, wide with confusion. Then he blinked several times, his mouth hanging open slightly. Loki frowned then, shook his head as if to banish a stray thought. Then his chest started to rise and fall far too quickly; his breath coming out in quick pants. He squeezed his eyes shut as if in pain and grabbed at his ribs. 

Fuck, Tony had a pretty good idea what was happening. He’d certainly experienced it enough after New York. Tight chest, racing heart, cold sweat, legs going weak, dizziness. Loki was having an anxiety attack. Shit, Tony gave him an anxiety attack, as if that was what the god needed right now. 

Tony grabbed Loki’s shoulders to steady him. The body under his hands was cold, freezing cold, he hissed in pain and yanked his hands away. 

“No! I’m sorry. Tony, I’m sorry.” Loki hiccupped, obviously fighting to get the words out. 

“No, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. We gotta get you settled. Put your head between your knees. That’s it.” Tony felt helpless, just giving suggestions instead of being able to actually touch. But, Loki followed what Tony said to do and after a few minutes his breathing started to settle. “You okay?” 

“No, Stark. I am very much not ok.” Loki responded, sitting up and staring at Tony bleakly. “Why did I never think about that? It’s so obvious.” 

“Well I think you were a little distracted by the other big revelations going on.” 

“But I have no idea what happened. I thought that even if I didn’t know Odin’s motivations, I was so sure of Laufey’s. I killed him for it, even if I wanted to pretend I had other reasons, noble reasons. I killed him for abandoning me and I don’t even know if that was what he actually did.” Loki’s voice broke on the last sentence which just further broke Tony’s heart. 

There was nothing he could say to make this better. Loki had done what he had done. It wasn’t right, there was no excusing it. Tony knew that Loki wasn’t the same person he was back then; the case could definitely be made for an insanity plea, but that wouldn’t ever make Loki feel better. 

“You don’t know, Lo-Lo. You may never know. You’re just going to have to accept that.” Tony said for lack of anything better to say. 

“I may be in the middle of an existential crisis, Stark, but that doesn’t mean I’ll let you get away with that atrocious nickname.” Loki growled. 

Tony huffed a laugh. “Hey, there’s my guy.” 

“Your guy?” Loki looked up at him again, his expression so vulnerable. 

“Sure, you’ve been my guy for quite a while now.” Tony said as if it was obvious. Which it totally should have been. 

“But...” Loki started, then sighed. “This was a pretty big omission, even for me. I’m not what you thought I was.” 

“I gave up on trying to define you a long time ago now. You’re Loki, as it turns out that encompasses a lot more than I initially knew, but that isn’t a bad thing. This is just one more shape, one more element.” 

“But this is who I actually am. Everything else is a fiction.” 

Tony sighed, ok let’s try this from a different angle. “Did you tell alternate timeline me about this?” 

“Yes...” Loki hedged, obviously not knowing where Tony was going with this. Ok, that was maybe a little hurtful that he told the other Tony and not him. Damn, they only knew each other for a few days. Tony threw that unhelpful thought away and focused on the present. 

“And did I freak out? Did I avoid you or otherwise give you any impression I was not cool with it?” 

“Actually, that was our conversation just before we kissed. But Stark, being told and seeing are two entirely different things. Can you honestly say you are attracted to me like this?” Loki winced, waiting for a blow that was never going to come. 

“Yep,” Tony said it quickly and with all honesty. It was still Loki, still his lean shape, his killer cheekbones, his perfect voice. The blue ridges did some interesting things to the lines of his muscles. The red eyes were startling at first, but now that Loki was starting to look at him, he could see the trickster he knew behind them. “I mean, we’ll have to figure out something to get around this whole too cold to touch thing because I’m not sure how long I can go keeping my hands off you.” 

At that, Loki blushed. It seemed that his blood was still red, or maybe dark purple because the blush made his cheeks a very pretty shade of lavender. “I don’t intend on staying in this shape.” 

“I believe you were the one who was all for changing it up in the bedroom. Variety being the spice of life and all that.” Tony smirked. “But speaking of, we haven’t really addressed why this happened in the first place.” 

Loki paled at that and Tony had to force his hands to his sides to keep from steadying him. 

“Your device, it took all of my magic. It’s like it was all sucked away.” Loki’s voice was shaky. “It was...excruciatingly painful.” 

“Fuck! Seriously? That was not my intention when I built it. I’m so sorry! It’s not...” Shit, how did he ask this? How could he forgive himself if the answer wasn’t no? “It’s not permanent, right?” Please let it not be permanent. 

“No,” Loki shook his head and Tony let out the breath he had been holding. “I can already feel it trickling back in. But it is going to take a while and a lot of food before I am back normal.” 

Which was less than ideal with the possibility of Thanos coming sooner than later. “How long is a while?” 

“Ideally, a week? At least until I have enough to use it regularly as normal again,” Ok, well it could definitely be worse. Tony just hoped that Thanos wasn’t quite that imminent. “I should probably go call Thor, let him know that I won't be back for a bit.” 

“Oh, yeah, no teleporting. You know, now that Thor knows you are here, you can stay as long as you want.” 

Yeah, Tony really hoped that didn’t come over to Loki as needy as it sounded to him. But, really. Finally, Thor knew, at least partially. Loki could tell him the rest. Finally, Loki could stop only coming over when he had time. They could be together like a real freaking couple. Tony mentally groaned at that thought. Nope, not needy at all. Loki made a face. It was harder to read than usual with the different eyes and the lined features, but Tony thought that it was some mixture of relief and uncertainty. 

“I appreciate that.” Loki said neutrally, before he carefully got off the couch and turned to exit the lab. 

The sound that escaped Tony’s mouth was closer to the whine of a teakettle just starting to boil than anything he would expect to hear from a person. It was instinctual and impossible to stop. As soon as the sound came out, Loki flinched. The frost giant didn’t turn around, though, he just froze in place, waiting for Tony’s eventual comment. But what could Tony possibly say? Loki’s back was in ruins. The scarring was completely different than the elegant whorls that traced the rest of his blue skin. The origin was obvious, even if the scars were supposed to be impossible. If Thanos could do this to an Asgardian, or Jotun he supposed, then what chance did Earth have? 

“Say what you need to say, Stark.” Loki said finally, obviously disliking the silence. 

“What? How?” Tony stuttered on the words, not really sure if he was actually asking or just trying to express his disbelieving sorrow. 

“I should think that would be obvious.” Loki said coldly. And yeah, it definitely was. But then Tony realized the question he wanted to ask. 

“But why is this the first I’m seeing it? Does it only appear in this form?” Was Loki forced into his true form? Tortured that way, both mentally and physically? Tony’s heart practically ached from the implications. 

Loki just shook his head. “No, something about them, they appear in all my forms.” Which didn’t follow because Tony had his eyes and hands all over multiple forms of Loki and their skin had been absolutely perfect. 

“You hid it with magic?” Tony’s voice sounded a little hollow to his ears. Every time he thought he was getting closer to knowing everything, well not everything, the guy was more than one thousand years old, but everything important at least, there was always just one more thing Loki was hiding. Would he ever get there? Would there ever be a point where he could actually be comfortable in thinking he knew the guy? 

And this? What was the point in hiding this? Tony already knew about the torture. Was this seriously just vanity? Loki didn’t answer, which just figured. He couldn’t even admit that he was a lying shit sometimes. Tony stalked back to his bar and poured himself another drink. He heard the door close behind Loki as he was draining the glass. 

There was nothing to be done. Tony may not have really realized initially what he was signing up for, but he’d had plenty of opportunities to bail at this point. Loki would lie; Loki would hide things. But Loki had told Tony far more than he allowed for anyone else. Loki willingly spent all his free time with Tony. Loki let Tony touch him as much as Tony wanted, no more flinching, no more turning away. In fact, Tony believed that the god actually enjoyed the casual touching now, leaning into it and reciprocating more often than not. 

No, Tony knew what he was in for when it came to Loki. He was just surprised to realize that it was all worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a sucker for Jotun Loki angst, plus now we have drama without any Tony/Loki separation! I call that growth!


	18. Some Rise by Sin and Some by Virtue Fall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It has been brought to my attention that even though I have seen Thor: Ragnarok more times than I can count I completely spaced about that fact that Loki revealed his Frost Giant ancestry in his little play. I have edited some of the wording Chapters 9, 14, and 16 a bit accordingly. 
> 
> Thanks Castielhowell for pointing this out!

Loki didn’t even consider that he could have lost Tony. At this point, with everything that had happened, he knew that the mortal was still his. Stark would rail, he’d yell, he’d be hurt, but he was still Loki’s. It was an oddly warm thought. It distracted him from the chill of his skin. He had never had this kind of confidence in anyone else outside of his family before. Even his confidence in Thor felt like a new thing. Once again there was that itch, to find the breaking point in Tony’s affections, find the line where he just couldn’t forgive. 

Loki didn’t always know why he hid things. Lies, omissions, obfuscation, they were as natural to him as breathing. Sometimes he did them for a purpose, sometimes just to practice, other times for spite, but often it was for no reason at all; he just did. He didn’t know why he hadn’t told Tony about the scars when he revealed the torture. It hadn’t been a conscious decision, per-say. It had just happened. It certainly wasn’t fair, but it was who Loki was. The god could change and had changed many things, but he wasn’t sure that was something that he ever could. Then again, now Stark really did know all the big truths about Loki. There was certainly much that the mortal didn’t know, but there was nothing left that Loki was actively hiding. He would tell his mortal that and hope that it was taken as Loki meant it. Trust that it was enough. 

Loki’s fingers hovered over the numbers to call Thor. He knew his brother would forgive him for skirting his vow, just like he believed in Tony. In the end, Thor really could only blame himself for not catching the hole he had left. Loki had never actually sworn to not to leave New Asgard beyond those initial three days. And his vows regarding his behavior only technically held to those three days. He defied the entire intent behind swearing it in the first place, but again, that was Thor’s problem, not his. 

Now, telling Thor about his relationship with Tony, that was going to be complicated. He wasn’t sure that Thor would believe him; he was fairly sure Thor would think it was some kind of trick. He was tempted to leave that bit out, but he knew Tony wouldn’t like it. Tony had wanted to stop hiding, which Loki understood, in theory. He didn’t feel the need to make personal business public, but there was no denying that was the Tony Stark way. 

There was also the upcoming showdown with Thanos to think about. Loki knew that they would need all the so-called Superheroes possible to face Thanos and his children, even without all the Infinity Stones. That would require getting them willing to fight beside Loki. It should be easier with Thor to back him up and his more longstanding friendship with Tony; but on the other hand, Loki couldn’t help but think that the others would already believe that Thor was swayed by his love for his brother; what if they knew Tony to be swayed by love as well? Norns knew that Thor wouldn’t be able to keep that a secret if he knew. The man was an absolutely terrible liar. No, Loki would get Stark to agree to keep their relationship a secret just until after Thanos. Once he had been defeated.... Loki’s brain almost couldn’t conceive of that. An after was just too heady to contemplate. 

Either way, he still needed to inform Thor that he would not be returning to New Asgard for at least a few days. This was not going to be fun. Still, Loki pressed the button and held up the phone to his ear. The phone rang for an annoyingly long number of rings before someone answered. 

“Loki?” Thor asked in his gratingly cautious tone. 

“That’s not how you answer a phone, Thor. It may not have been me.” Loki sighed. 

“I just spoke to Stark,” Thor countered. Which was, of course, logical but Loki wasn’t going to admit that. 

Loki maintained his silence petulantly. 

“I am assuming since you are using the phone and are not back in New Asgard as requested, this isn’t good news.” Thor finally prompted. 

“Not particularly, no.” Loki responded. He might as well get it over with. “I have no magic.” 

A stunned silence greeted this particular revelation. Finally, Thor breathed, “Truly, brother?” 

“For now,” Loki allowed. “Stark’s damned weapon drained everything, but it will return.” 

“Do you need me to come fetch you?” Thor asked. 

Did Loki need Thor to come collect him like a lost child? Absolutely not. 

“No, Stark has offered his home for the days I need to regenerate my magic.” Loki said. 

“There’s no need to impose upon Stark. I can easily bring you with me.” Thor argued. 

“Whoever said that Stark would consider me an imposition?” Loki couldn’t help but counter. 

This short silence was quite disbelieving. “He did say that you had become friendly.” Thor finally allowed. 

“Is that truly so hard to believe, brother? Why would he lie to you about that?” 

“It’s hard to believe that you would save his life.” Thor said. “Did you? Why?” 

Loki sighed. This was bound to come out soon anyways with Thanos likely approaching. “I did. Why is a very long story.” 

“I have time.” 

“Not over the phone.” 

“Then I will be there shortly.” 

“Not like this,” Loki said, perhaps a little too frantically, examining the blue of his hand, “please?” 

Catching Loki’s tone, Thor sighed. “How long before you have enough magic to teleport back?” 

“Three days should be enough?” Loki speculated. He was going to have to eat quite a lot, but it should be enough. 

“I’ll come get you if you can’t make it in three days.” Thor responded. “Rest well.” 

Thor hung up and Loki tossed the phone down onto the couch and followed it shortly after. He examined his left hand again, moving it around, looking at the palm, the back, wiggling his fingers. He traced one of the lines with the other hand, feeling the texture, similar to the scars on his back. He’d never been in this form for more than a few moments before, never really taken the time to examine it. He followed the lines up his arms, see how they run along his chest and abs. They were actually rather beautiful, elegant in a way. He knew their purpose, to proclaim before all the Jotun that he was the son of Laufey. But they couldn’t tell him if he was wanted. 

He shook that thought away. Stark was right, he would never know the truth. It was pointless to speculate, to dwell. But he did it oh so well. As a distraction, he rose from the couch and walked into the kitchen to find himself something to eat. He only had a few minutes to examine the contents of the refrigerator before he felt Tony’s presence behind him. 

“Hungry?” Tony asked carefully. Loki could practically feel Tony’s hands twitching by his sides, repressing the desire to put a hand on his shoulder or an arm around his waist. That gave Loki an idea, actually. 

Since there was absolutely nothing of use in the fridge anyways, Loki turned around and nodded. He walked forward until he was right in Stark’s personal space; Tony would generally use this opportunity to steal a kiss or grab his ass, but he kept his distance shivering a bit from the cold, at least Loki hoped it was from the cold. Loki concentrated on a feeling of calming warmth before reaching a hand out slowly to Tony’s arm. The man stood unusually still, barely breathing. Very tentatively, Loki placed his index finger on Tony’s arm for a second before pulling away again. 

Tony’s face brightened. “Hey! That didn’t hurt. Still cold, but not frost-bite cold.” 

Loki put his full hand on Tony’s arm then, searching his face for the slightest sign of pain. There was none. Loki breathed a sigh of relief. He had suspected that the frost touch was a defense mechanism, one brought on by his panic. It would be an incredible effort to maintain that constantly. Loki squeezed the arm under his grip a little, marveling at the intense heat of Tony’s skin. 

“I suspected that might be the case, but I needed to verify. There is precious little information about the Jotun in Asgard, though I read all we had when I found out about my origins.” Loki smiled a bit as Tony took this opportunity to wrap his arms around Loki’s middle and pull him in for a kiss. Tony’s lips were even hotter than his arm, making the kiss far more intense than it would otherwise be. Loki pulled away before they can get any more into it. 

“Sorry! Too much?” Tony asked. 

“A bit, but in a very enjoyable way actually. I’m just not in that particular mood.” 

“Food?” 

“Yes, please.” Tony ordered Lox and bagels, which made Loki smile. It was a little amazing how comfortable Tony was with all the weird that surrounded Loki. It could just be any other evening the way he would pouring a glass of wine for Loki and grab a beer for himself. 

“How did it go with big bro?” Tony asked, settling down at the table once they had food. 

Loki made a face, “Well enough, I suppose. I convinced him not to come get me, barely. But he’ll expect me in three days. I’ll have to tell him everything, about the other timeline, Thanos...” 

“Us?” Tony added, and Loki sighed. 

“Stark,” Loki started, but Tony growled, cutting him off. 

“You’re seriously not going to tell him?” 

“Not yet,” Loki clarified. “I want to, I truly do, but he was disbelieving enough of our friendship. I think you underestimate how well Thor knows me. It’s understandable, I do it too. He’s known me all my life. This? Our relationship? Is completely unlike me. I don’t even know how it happened, I don’t expect Thor to. So, he’ll believe I have ulterior motives; he’ll be suspicious and will focus on that. I need all of his attention on defeating Thanos, not being distracted with how I am dallying with one of his shield brothers.” 

“Dallying?” Tony questioned, and Loki rolled his eyes. “Ok, fine. But you are going to run out of good reasons eventually. You’ll have to tell him.” 

“I will. I swear to you, Stark, if we survive defeating Thanos it will be the very first thing I do.” Loki pauses remembering he promised himself he’d do something else first. “After getting extremely drunk and celebrating with you.” 

Tony grinned at that. “Hey man, no ifs. We are defeating Thanos and we will be getting drunk.” 

That made Loki laugh before sobering. 

“You do know what you will need to do next, yes?” Loki asked. Tony just looked at him questioningly. “You need to call Captain America. We will need every superhero available. Even if we didn’t, you’ve just been looking for the excuse to reconcile.” 

Tony scowled at him. “How did you know?” He asked before he remembered and rolled his eyes. “Stupid alternate timeline. Yeah, I guess that makes sense.” 

“You know,” Loki started, feeling like he may be pressing his luck with everything else that had happened that night. “You never have told me the full story of your dispute.” 

“It’s complicated.” Stark snarled, obviously in no mood to talk about it. 

“I imagine so. I would also like to point out that my own backstory is rather complicated. And now you know everything there is to know.” Loki gestured to his blue skin. 

“Everything?” Tony asked, raising an eyebrow in suspicion. 

“Obviously, I haven’t told you everything about my millennium of life, but there is nothing I am now actively hiding. You know all the pertinent details.” Loki wondered if he would ever stop being baffled by that. Stark knew it all. Knew the dirty secrets that Loki would prefer to stay buried, but still sat across from him, eating Loki’s favorite meal just to cheer him up. 

Now it was Tony’s turn to sigh. “Yeah, I guess that’s fair then.” 

Tony got up and poured himself a scotch and grabbed the bottle of wine to refill Loki’s glass. He fiddled with the dishes a bit, obviously stalling but Loki just let him. 

“So, you know about everything with Ultron.” Loki nodded. “I’ve talked to you about the Accords.” 

“Bitched about, more like.” Loki countered trying to instill some levity. Tony was far more tense than Loki liked. 

Tony snorted. “Yeah, bitched is right. But I did believe in them, still do for the most part. They were called the Sokovia accords because of what Ultron did, but there was this accident in Lagos. They were trying to get a bad guy and some people died. It was an accident and things could have been worse if they hadn’t been there, but it would have been down the line. After everything with Sokovia, with Ultron being my fault, I jumped on the Accords bandwagon. I still believe in them, in theory. I think checks and balances are important. We’ve got the power to do a lot of good, but a lot of harm as well. We’re not perfect; we’re not all-powerful, all-knowing...” 

“Gods?” Loki finished for him with a smirk. 

Stark tipped his glass to Loki. “Neither are you, really, smart-ass.” Loki let that one go since he really wanted to hear this story. 

“Anyways, Steve believed that the government wasn’t the right people to make that call. That we had a moral imperative to our own judgement. Again, yeah, great in theory but since we’re not perfect, who would be the people to make that call? That was enough to cause some drama, but I could have dealt. There was no real way we could operate as a team anymore, but I could have separated the personal, you know? But on top of that, there was a bombing at the ratification of the Accords and the prime suspect was the Winter Soldier. This guy was Steve’s best friend from childhood who had been brainwashed to work for Hydra, complete with code sign programming and a metal arm.” 

Loki suppressed a shudder at ‘brainwashing’. “This was Barnes?” Loki asked. 

Tony looked up at him in surprise. “Yeah, you know who that is?” 

“I met him.” 

“Huh, I honestly hadn’t considered that he would be there. Last I heard they were still trying to figure out how to fix him in Wakanda.” 

“He seemed perfectly sane to me.” Loki offered. 

“Yeah, cause you’re a great judge of that.” 

Loki stuck out his tongue at Stark who laughed, more tension seemed to roll out of him. 

“Anyways, Steve goes tearing off to find the Winter Soldier. Turns out the guy was framed, but instead of sharing with the class and getting some help, they go after Zemo themselves, taking Sam Wilson, Wanda, Barton and some new guy, Ant-Man. Of course, this officially breaks the accords, so I have to go after them with the actual Accords-signing Avengers: Rhodey, Vision, Romanoff and the new King of Wakanda, T’Challa.” 

“Romanoff?” Loki questioned, remembering her as being with the Captain. 

“Yeah, I’ll get to that. I also recruited Spiderman. My first time meeting Peter actually.” That brought a small smile to Stark’s face before he shook his head and returned to the story. “So, then there’s the big superhero fight. Yada yada, Romanoff switches sides, helps Rogers and Barnes get away. Vision accidentally shoots Rhodey in the crossfire. He’s paralyzed.” Tony’s jaw clenched in a mixture of anger and guilt. Loki reached out to put a soothing hand over Tony’s. The man gave him a grateful smile. 

“I did make him some kick ass legs to help him walk, he’s doing pretty good now. But, yeah, that was really bad. Barnes and Rogers just left the other guys to get arrested, unfortunately they got sent to the Raft.” Stark answered Loki’s questioning glance, before he could actually get the words out. “Prison for people with abilities, but like the maniacs and criminals. And yeah, maybe I should have figured that’s where they’d send them, but I was a little distracted with Rhodey and everything. Still, when I finally got evidence against Zemo, I went there to find out if any of them knew where Rogers had gone. I was going to help him, damn it. He may not have been on the right side of the Accords, but he was defending his friend and I was going to help. Fuck.” Stark got up to fill his glass again and Loki started to feel uneasy. He could tell that everything up until now wasn’t yet the bad parts. 

Stark sat down and sighed. “I ditched Ross and followed them to Siberia. They thought Zemo was going to wake up more Winter Soldiers, turns out he killed them all. Was looking for revenge on us for Sokovia. He got what he wanted. I played right into his fucking hands.” 

Stark put his head in his hands and stared down silently for a minute. Loki was starting to feel queasy. This was very not good. Finally, Stark sat up again, finished his scotch and started talking in a rush to get the words out. 

“He started playing a video. It showed my parent’s car crash, but it wasn’t just a car accident. The Winter Soldier killed them. The guy I was standing right next to, helping to clear his name.” Tony laughed, it was bitter, rough, much more like something Loki would have done than Stark was prone to. It made the hair on the back of Loki’s neck stand on end. “Hell, if only that was the worst part. I look over at Steve and he wasn’t looking at the video, he was looking at me, at my reaction. He knew! The fucker knew and never said a word.” 

Loki could understand the feeling of betrayal that would instill, far worse than a brainwashed stranger who killed his parents so many years ago. 

“Still, I lost it and tried to kill Barnes. It wasn’t his fault, I knew that. Steve was right to stop me, I can admit that too, but...” 

Tony’s eyes begged forgiveness even as Loki could tell he didn’t expect it. Loki wasn’t sure what forgiveness would mean from someone who had done so much worse, but that he could give. 

“Tony,” The man’s eyes widened at the sound of his first name. “You know that I know what it is like to do something in the heat of the moment, when you are under severe emotional distress, that you regret afterward.” 

“Yeah, but that’s the thing. I do regret it, don’t get me wrong. I’m glad that I didn’t actually kill him, but I’m still angry with him. It’s not fair, I know that, but I can’t help but hate the guy for killing my parents.” 

“I still hate Thor for not being my brother.” Loki admitted. Tony looked at him questioningly, momentarily distracted from his own pain. “It’s ridiculous, right? For so long I hated that my brother was this arrogant, pompous fool, it was almost a relief to find out we weren’t actually related. Then I was so angry with Thor for persisting in holding on to a past relationship that was a complete lie. Now I just can’t seem to let go of that anger about the lie that I believed in for so long, that part of me still wishes were true. I have no one else to focus it on but Thor, even though he is blameless.” 

“Huh, yeah. I get that.” Tony acknowledged before getting worked up again. “Then, there’s Steve. I’m so much more pissed off at him for hiding it all; for letting me find out that way. It’s his fault I reacted like that; that I feel so fucking guilty about it. And that’s even ignoring the fact that he almost killed me in the whole process. For a moment, I looked at his face as he was beating that shield into the armor, as I felt it crumbling around me, that I really thought that he was going to kill me, for Barnes.” 

“And yet, you want to call him. You want to make amends.” 

“I don’t” Stark argued stubbornly. “If I did want to, I already would have. I do what I want; I’m that simple.” 

Loki chuckled. “You aren’t, Stark. You haven’t been in a very long time and I think you know that.” 

“Hmm... kinda like you?” 

“Oh no, don’t turn this one around on me. I’m no hero. I still do what I want; I just want different things.” 

Stark made a face like he didn’t believe it. Then again, he probably didn’t. He did seem to want to see the best in Loki. The god was willing to let him continue the delusion for now. 

“Steve did apologize. Not for the whole trying to kill me thing, but for hiding the truth. But even that was in the most sanctimonious freaking letter. I don’t know. I know I have to call him. Have to make myself work with him, but it’s going to be hell.” 

“Can I just say? With the caveat that your feelings of betrayal are completely justified, and I am not diminishing it?” Tony nodded hesitantly, obviously curious where Loki was going with this. “If Thor kept this kind of grudge I’d definitely be dead by now.” 

“Yeah, well, I guess you kind of have to be forgiving when you’re stuck with people for 5,000 years.” Stark countered quickly, starting to gear up his anger again. 

Loki held up a mollifying hand. “No, I think you have it backwards. We have all the time in the world to hold grudges, knowing that eventually we can finally forgive when we’re ready. There’s this constant illusion of having more time. When your lives are so short, why waste them on holding on to the negative?” 

“Since when did you get all philosophical?” 

“I honestly never gave it much thought until I was trying to talk to a particularly stubborn mortal about Thor dying.” Loki said, smiling a bit at Tony as if there were any question who that stubborn mortal was. “You know, I believe it probably comes from seeing my own issues from a mortal's perspective. Having him forgive my past sins and love my faults.” 

“Well that was downright romantic. I’m blushing.” Stark said and leaned in for a kiss. 

Loki was still uneasy about kissing in this particular form, but he wouldn’t deny Tony for the world, so he leaned in to the kiss, finding those hot lips on his as intense as he had before. 

“How about we get ourselves back to bed, huh?” Tony asked as they broke the kiss. 

“It’s past dawn. What’s the point now?” 

“I need some rest before calling Captain Spangles and I think you could use some too for the magic recharge.” 

Stark wasn’t wrong. And it wasn’t like Loki had anywhere else to be. 

“Wont Pepper get on you for neglecting your work?” 

“I'll just sick you and your charms on her.” 

Loki snorted. “Because that worked out so well last time. Maybe I’ll get lucky and escape the encounter unscathed.”


	19. Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the slightly shorter chapter than normal, but I promise it's chock full of emotional angst so hopefully that will make up for it a bit. I've also been trying to extend posting by a day or two since I'm approaching the climax quicker in posting than in writing. Endings are super hard. 
> 
> Thanks for sticking with me! Oh, and smut alert!

The next days were a blur of overeating. Loki spent his time stuffing himself full to the point of nausea and then stuffing more in on top of that. He could feel his magic reserves filling quickly so that even as his stomach roiled, he felt a certain calm permeate his being. He slept quite a bit too, which helped immensely. Most times when he woke from a nap, it was to find his mad inventor either curled around his back or just sitting beside him, playing on a tablet. Loki supposed that he really shouldn’t have been surprised by this point at how Tony had taken his blue boyfriend in stride. He hadn’t blinked at any of Loki’s other shapes. 

But, of course, he was Tony Stark, he couldn’t keep from tinkering for too long. Oddly, Loki didn’t quite feel up to spending time in the lab, who knew why? Then again, Loki could go the rest of his very long life without ever seeing that weapon again. So, in a rare moment of solitude, Loki wondered what it would take to put Tony off. He was pretty sure a cat wouldn’t do it. Maybe something with tentacles? The thought made him laugh. Which was when he realized he hadn’t been doing much of that lately. He pulled up his own tablet and got to amusing himself. 

He was eating his fifteenth plum and deep into his newest prank when Tony walked in, sweating and covered in grease from his workshop. Tony took a look at the, frankly massive, pile of pits Loki had next to him as well as the several empty protein shake bottles strewn about. 

“It’s a really good thing I’m a billionaire because you are practically eating me out of house and home, Slim.” 

Loki rolled his eyes, like Stark couldn’t afford it. “What have you been cooking up in that workshop of yours, Stark?” 

“Working on a teleporter.” Tony grinned at Loki’s questioning eyebrow. “What? I can’t let you go on having all the fun! Speaking of, you seem to be in a much better mood. What are you up to?” 

Loki smirked. “Dr. Strange has some pending Amazon orders, but I believe he will be a little surprised at what he actually receives.” 

Tony walked around to perch on the back of the couch so he could see what Loki was doing. Loki had replaced the boring grocery items in the sorcerer’s list with an impressively sized vibrator, a particularly terrible looking porn video and cheap plastic magic wand toy. Stark laughed and gestured for Loki to hand him the tablet. Loki did, curious as to what Stark was going to do. Stark typed for a moment before handing the tablet back to him. 

“Add that one as well.” Loki looked at what Stark had pulled up. It was a book entitled ‘Magic for Dummies’. Loki burst into a fit of giggles. 

“You are truly amazing, lover,” Loki caught himself and added the ‘R’ quickly enough that it sounded practically intentional. As he searched Stark’s face for a reaction, he saw nothing more than his amused grin. It seemed that he had saved himself in time. 

Loki knew by this point that he was in love with Tony. Hel, he was ridiculously, emotionally gone when it came to the man and had been long before he had been willing to admit it to himself. But knowing it was one thing, speaking of it was another entirely. He wasn’t quite sure he was ready for that. For so long his thoughts of the future started and stopped with Thanos. He had never really imagined life beyond that confrontation or just avoiding it altogether. Now, with Tony, with Thor, with all the Avengers possibly fighting, with two Infinity Stones destroyed, Loki was starting to truly hope that they could win. 

Loki was ready to imagine a future beyond Thanos. But that too held danger, because if he thought about the time after Thanos, he had to think of how much more of it he had than his mortal. He had cursed Thor for a fool for allowing himself to fall in love with Jane knowing that she would be gone in a heartbeat, and here Loki was doing the exact same thing. When he finally told Thor, his brother would laugh himself sick. 

Loki could admit that he understood now; saw how easy it was to forget all those details when you were looking into the eyes of the person you loved. Loki chased away those thoughts. He would enjoy the time he had; he would work to defeat Thanos and then they would tackle the next obstacle. 

Later that evening, when Loki was getting ready for sleep, he used some of his precious stores of magic to shift into his regular form. It was actually a little odd to be looking at his usual pale skin under the bright lights in the bathroom. Loki wouldn’t go quite so far as to say that he was used to his Frost Giant form, but it was certainly less disconcerting than it had been before. Though, that in itself was off-putting. Shrugging off his feeling of discontent, he turned off the lights and walked into the bedroom. 

The bedroom was mostly dark, but for the shine of the screen Stark held in his hand and the reactor in his chest. He looked up at Loki as he entered and squinted, trying to get a good look in the dim light. 

“Hey there, where’d my Smurf go?” Tony asked. Loki had learned what a smurf was the first day and he wasn’t amused. There was no way Stark could make out his glare in the light but, apparently, he could feel it because he was quick to add. “Of course, I adore you in any shape, but I don’t want you using up your magic unnecessarily.” 

“It doesn’t take much to maintain this shape, just the shift itself and even then, I have plenty left over to head home tomorrow morning. I’m far from my full power, but I’ve been regaining my magic quicker than I predicted.” Loki got under the covers on what he had come to think of as his side of the bed. He plucked the electronic device out of his mortal’s hand, smirking at the protest before quieting it with his own lips. 

“Ok, this I can get behind.” Tony said as he pulled back from the kiss. “But we could have done this in your frost giant shape too. That cold could be really interesting.” 

Loki’s nose wrinkled in distaste at the thought. “I appreciate the sentiment, Stark, but I needed this as myself. Does that make sense?” 

“Loki,” Stark sighed, “You should think of that shape as yourself too. It’s no different than when you’re female or anything else. It’s still you; you know that, right?” 

“Yes, I do. But, with the next few days I’ll be fighting with Thor and then fighting for acceptance among your Avengers. I’ll have to pretend that I don’t want to have my hands all over you at every minute and that is before the inevitable fight with the man that I have been fleeing for years. I need this, and it needs to be in the form I’m most comfortable.” 

“Ugh, I am seriously going to have a hard time keeping my hands off you too. I know you’re right about keeping that quiet, but it’s going to seriously suck.” Tony demonstrated his inability control his hands by running them all over Loki’s body as he said this. 

But Loki was tired of talking, he pushed Stark down into the covers and stopped his mouth in the only way his mortal would accept. Their kisses were slow and lazy, hands traveled leisurely down each other's bodies, teasing and wandering without speeding up the process. Already, this was very different than how sex for them usually went. Sure, they weren’t always rushed or brutal, but it was always passionate, fueled more by lust than anything else. This was gentle, intense in a very different fashion, fueled by emotions that neither one of them had dared to speak of aloud. Loki was tempted to speed up, to change the tempo to something approximating their usual, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to change something that felt so good. 

Even at this pace, they were soon both hard. Tony was the one to take it to the next step, flipping Loki over and kissing down his chest. As Tony started to tease his ass, Loki obliged him by providing the necessary slickness. As with everything they had done thus far, Tony took his time preparing Loki; as his right hand was occupied, his left was roaming and teasing, he continuously leaned over for more kissing, it was all very loving. Loki almost groaned as the word entered his brain, then he did moan as Tony finally added a third finger. 

Finally, Loki was ready and Tony slipped in just as carefully as everything else had been. Once he was in to the hilt, Tony just lay on Loki kissing as they both enjoyed the feel of Tony’s cock twitching inside him. Soon it was too much and not enough, and Loki whined. Tony chuckled but he started moving. He was slow and steady canting his hips to hit a different angle on each thrust. Loki pushed back, twisting his own hips to lead Tony to the right spot, to increase that delicious friction. 

They toyed with each other, dancing around the finish line until Loki was practically weeping he was so close. Tony too was starting to lose his rhythm, his hips were starting to move quicker, pump in despite his careful control. Throughout the entire time, their eyes maintained contact, increasing the intensity to something that made Loki’s chest tight. Loki wasn’t quite sure who finished first, but he called out “Tony” just about as the man’s hips stilled. They lay together unmoving, panting slightly for so long that Loki began to drift in and out of sleep. Neither man seemed to want to move and break the spell of whatever it was that had happened between them. 

When Loki woke up the next morning, disentangling himself from his mortal, he immediately sat on the floor to mediate. He found that his brain was defying his focus, wanting to analyze the previous night. Loki couldn’t remember any other time he would have considered sex to be ‘making love’. In fact, he was forced to admit, it was a first for him. He smiled a bit as he remembered his challenge to Tony to try to find a first in the bedroom. His mortal never did disappoint. It changed nothing between them, yet it was everything. 

He had this odd, niggling feeling that last night felt like goodbye. It was ridiculous. He would be seeing Tony at the Avengers Compound in a few days. Sure, they would have to hide their relationship, but they didn’t have to pretend not to know one another. They could still steal a few hours in secrecy at night. That would last him until they defeated Thanos. 

Despite his rationalizations, the unease lingered. He eventually gave up on meditation altogether. He was obviously worrying over his conversation with Thor. He may as well head back to get that confrontation over with sooner rather than later. He got up off the floor and walked over to the bed. He kissed Tony until finally the inventor’s brown eyes opened. 

“Hey there, green eyes.” Tony smiled, eyes still hazy with sleep. Loki found himself smiling softly as well, lovesick idiot that he was. 

“Good morning, Stark.” 

Tony frowned. “Back to Stark now, huh?” 

“It’s for the best, no point developing bad habits. I’m going to head back to New Asgard. I only have so long to talk Thor into everything.” Loki was maybe a bit more brusque than necessary, trying to hide the way his heart felt flayed open and vulnerable. Tony seemed a bit put off, but he was too sleepy to argue much. 

“Yeah, that makes sense. Good luck. I’ll miss you.” Loki often forgot how unguarded Tony’s tongue was when he was sleepy. 

“It will only be a few days, silly mortal.” Loki chided, but then he didn’t want to leave it that way. “Yet, I will miss you as well; more so when I am again with you, but unable to be yours as I wish.” 

Tony blinked a few times at the unusual display of emotion. Loki could practically feel those words hanging in the air. I love you. Was saying it really any different than what he had just said? From what they had done last night? Tony was about to say something, but Loki’s nerves got the better of him and he kissed the man instead. 

“Go back to bed, Tony. I’ll see you shortly.” Loki gave him one more quick kiss before he teleported away from home.


	20. What Fools these Mortals Be

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story just keeps getting bigger on me! Up to 100,000 words and still getting working up to the climax. From here on the chapters are a bit shorter to match the increased tempo of the story, just a heads up. 
> 
> Also, because I haven't in a while, thank you guys for all the kudos and comments! I can't tell you how excited I get every time that I see that email that tells me I have a comment! What's more your thoughts and perspectives are so entertaining that they've really fed a lot of my writing as well so I truly couldn't do this without you! Kisses!

Tony was thinking about Loki on the flight to the Avengers compound. It wasn’t so surprising considering he was studiously avoiding thinking about his upcoming talk with Captain America. But there was quite a lot to think about on the Loki front too. Things with the god had been... weird the last few days. Not bad, actually in most ways quite the opposite, but definitely different. 

It was as if Tony finding out about Loki’s true race broke down that last barrier between them. Loki had been more open, more present, even as Tony could see the discomfort in the frost giant form. Then there was their last night, the amazing, intimate sex they had. Loki calling out his name, his first name as he finished. Yesterday morning, all those unspoken words that Loki had so obviously been avoiding and Tony had been too slow with sleep to catch on. 

But there was time. Sure, they’d have to play their parts for a while, sneak around until Thanos was no longer a factor, but then they’d have time. Tony would finally work up the courage to tell the god he loved him and desperately hope that he wasn’t wrong about Loki feeling the same way. 

Of course, the flight to upstate New York was crazy short with his new repulsors so sooner than he would have liked he was landing. In fact, he was landing right next to a stolen Quinjet which told him that the conversation he had been avoiding for years was quickly upon him. Tony tapped at the reactor in his chest and the suit flowed back off his limbs until he was in a business suit when he walked into the compound. 

Fortunately, the first person he saw as he entered the building was Rhodey. Tony’s oldest friend grinned and walked forward for a friendly shake and bro-hug. 

“Long time no see,” Rhodey greeted him and Tony felt a pang of guilt for how long it had been since he’d visited. 

“You know how it is when you’re ruling half the world.” Tony deflected. 

“Sure, I know why Pepper’s busy, but what’s your excuse?” Rhodey bantered quickly and Tony let out a genuine laugh at that. 

“How about getting laid?” Tony offered, going for some version of the truth. 

Rhodey raised a questioning eyebrow. He knew that Tony hadn’t been really into the scene lately. “Someone special?” 

“Several someones,” Tony said, grinning inwardly at his little joke. Rhodey just gave him that fake chastising smile before movement to their right deflected both of their attention. Bruce was walking in, alone, smiling that smile that said that he was amazingly uncomfortable with the situation he was in. 

“Hey Tony, how are you?” Bruce asked. 

“Well, you know. Prepping for the big showdown. I’ve been working out, can you tell? Think I stand a chance against Captain Steroids?” Tony told himself he didn’t feel even a little bad at Bruce’s wince. He was the one who was going to have to do the big emotional conversation thing. He had the right to joke and deflect all he wanted beforehand, damn it. 

“Tony,” Bruce wheedled. 

“I’m going to talk to the guy, Bruce.” Tony interrupted. “I’m going to make sure we can all work together like a big happy family to destroy the big grape from space.” 

“Grape?” Bruce questioned, confused. 

“He’s purple, didn’t Thor mention it?” Tony asked, mentally kicking himself. Whoops. “Ok, show me to where I need to be. Let’s get this show on the road. 

“Tony, just so you know...” Bruce started and once again, Tony could see where this was going. 

“Barnes is here, huh? Yeah I figured.” Tony interrupted. 

“How did you...? How could you possibly expect when...?” Bruce stuttered, and Tony could have smacked himself. If he wasn’t careful he’d give the whole game away before Loki even got here. 

“I told Cap to bring everyone he could, that this was ‘save the world’ big. If there was any chance of Barnes’ being half prepared, Rogers would bring him.” Tony rationalized. It was a stretch, but Bruce seemed mollified. 

Tony strolled ahead of Bruce and Rhodey and walked right into the sitting room that contained Steve, Barnes, Romanoff, Barton, Wilson, Vision and Wanda. The room went silent for a few long minutes, everyone obviously waiting for Tony to start. Well, talk was something he could do. 

“Afternoon all! How are you doing? Good? Long time no see! Whatcha been up to? Me? Oh, I’m good. Same old, same old. Ok, pleasantries out of the way, can we get down to business?” Tony said looking at the now less tense if still silent group. Cap’s face couldn’t decide between shock, amusement and disappointment, otherwise known as his Tony Stark face. It actually made Tony a bit nostalgic. 

“Are you seriously trying to pretend that the last few years never happened, Stark?” Wilson asked. 

“Not in the slightest. I’m trying to get all the fake stuff out of the way, so we can talk out what we need to talk out in order to work together.” Tony countered. 

“Since when do you dislike the fake stuff?” Barton asked. 

“Since a bad ass space conqueror is on his way here. I don’t know how much time we have left but I’d like to be prepared for him.” 

“How do you know all this, Tony? Where is this coming from?” Steve asked. 

“Sorry, Capsicle. No skipping to the end of the program. We gotta do the intro, the lead in and then our special guests will arrive.” Tony said easily. “Who wants to start? No one? Big surprise. Ok, I’ll start. The Accords suck. They’re broken and I’m over it. The world needs us as we were and I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen. Now, that being said, I do still believe in the rules and limits that I said before. I don’t regret signing them, I made the best choice I could at the time. I do regret what happened afterwards, I could have handled some things better, but I did what needed to be done.” 

“Seriously, that’s it? That’s the apology we get?” Barton spluttered. 

“I’m sorry, did someone promise you an apology? If so, they were hugely mistaken.” He could eat a little crow on some points if it meant everyone working together again, but he wouldn’t apologize for that. 

“Guys, we had just signed the accords. You were helping the suspected bomber of the summit. What the hell else were we supposed to do?” Rhodey cut in. 

“How about stand by your friends?” Wilson offered. 

“Like you stood by us?” Rhodey shot back. 

“Seriously, how is this helping?” Bruce cut in. “Can I say, as the guy who was in literal outer space when this happened, you all screwed up. You should have stuck together, figured it out as a team but you didn’t. It’s done. Now we have a chance to make it right. Don’t you all want to take that?” 

There were mostly nods around the group, some more grudging than others. Tony grinned. “That’s the spirit, Brucie. Tell us we’re all dumbasses. Equal opportunity and all that.” 

“Shut up, Tony.” Tony put a hand to his heart and fluttered his eyelashes like Bruce had said the nicest compliment. Bruce just rolled his eyes. 

“Ok, now that we have that fun out of the way, Barnes, Cap, can I talk to you both privately?” At the dirty looks that he got from Romanoff and Barton, he scoffed. “Seriously, do you need to worry about two super soldiers alone with me?” 

Steve held out a halting hand to the others as he looked to Barnes for confirmation. Barne’s nodded, looking uncertain, and they both followed Tony into the other room. Tony closed the door and stared at the men looking at him expectantly. It was odd, Tony had never understood it when someone said something to the effect of ‘all the words fell out of their head’ but that was the exact descriptor for the feeling he was currently having. Even with as much as he had been avoiding thinking about this conversation he had it mostly worked out. But it was all gone. 

Tony found himself fixating on Steve’s beard for some odd reason. It made him look different, so much older than Tony had in his head. It suited the soldier in a grizzly on the run kind of way. Tony opened his mouth to say as much then closed it again realizing that would be ridiculous. Which again, was totally not him. 

“Look, I just wanted to say, Barnes, that I’m sorry. I’m sorry for attacking you after I found out what happened. It wasn’t your fault; I know that, and I should have known that at the time.” Tony was sure the look on his face was amusingly surprised because he could swear those words weren’t even in his head before they came out of his mouth. But they would do for a start. 

Both Rogers and Barnes look at him a little wide eyed. Tony kinda wanted to laugh, the whole situation was just crazy and they were looking at him so startled, but that probably wouldn’t go over well. So, he kept his trap shut, something he had only been hypothetically capable of up until this point. 

“Uh, thanks, Stark.” Barnes answered, not quite making eye contact. But he did actually look grateful, so there was that. Barnes too opened his mouth hesitantly before closing it again. Tony got the sudden feeling that he was going to mention Tony’s parents and he wasn’t sure if he was ok with that. He couldn’t quite predict how he’d react. 

“It may not be worth much coming from me but, I am sorry about your parents.” Barnes said. 

Tony waited for the hot rage to fill his gut like it had every time he thought about that video for the last two years. Surprisingly, it only managed to be a little flicker, grief and regret were far stronger. Tony didn’t know if it was going over everything with Loki or standing right in front of a guy who couldn’t even look anyone in the eye with everything he had done, willing or no, but Tony just didn’t have it in him. However, he didn’t really have words either, so he just nodded. 

“Tony,” Steve started, but as soon as he did, Tony realized he didn’t need to hear it. If he couldn’t manage rage at the guy who had killed his parents, he was definitely not going to try to stoke it now. Steve would never apologize for the Accords stuff, it wasn’t in him and frankly, Tony was just ready to be done. He understood. Steve had already apologized, in a completely unsatisfactorily way, for not telling him about his parents, so what more was he going to get? If Steve said something else that didn’t feel right, it would just piss Tony off and cause more problems. He needed to nip this in the bud. Loki’s words were rolling around in his head. He had wanted this to be done for so long, it was just his anger getting in the way. But was it really worth the world? 

“You know what, Steve. We’re good. Really. You apologized in your letter, you still mean all that right?” Steve nodded hesitantly. “Good. Great. And you said you’d be here if I needed you and hey, here you are so, that’s a win. So how about we get together and see if we can make a team again and try to kill the big bad instead of each other?” 

Steve grinned at that. “I missed you, Tony. Really.” 

“Oh, come on, Cap. You’re going to make me blush. It’s no good for my color.” Tony rolled his eyes, but he felt his lips curl into a slight smile as well. Stupid boy scout with his endearing earnestness. “Should we go see if we have to break up the kiddos?” 

Tony let Steve lead the way and was a bit surprised by the reception that greeted them. Everybody was talking, relatively companionably. There was no laughing but there was no arguing either. Romanoff and Bruce were talking in a corner while Vision, Wanda, Barton, Wilson and Rhodey were all crowded together obviously catching up. 

Tony sniffed loudly, getting the group’s attention before pretending to wipe a tear out from under his eye. The looks he received were mixtures of amusement and annoyance; that was his jam right there. “This seems like a really great time to break for lunch. Afterwards, our special guests will arrive, and we can all talk about why we’re here. Should be a scream.” 

Lunch was an uneventful affair. Sandwiches catered in and lots of tentative catching up chatter. Tony was bummed that Bruce was missing from their little group lunch, but so was Romanoff so Tony could make some assumptions there. Unfortunately, he was pretty sure Bruce wasn’t getting any, but closure was sometimes as good as sex. Or so Tony had been told. 

Steve had stubbornly decided to sit next to Tony with Barnes on his other side. Tony spent a good majority of the time talking to Rhodey on his other side and Vision across from him, but Steve was very much a part of the conversation and not left out. Of course, it was Tony so at some point the conversation turned to sex, who knew how. Rhodey wanted details on if any of the ‘several someones’ were interesting enough to note. 

“Oh, you and Pepper?” Steve asked, looking rather broken up about it actually. 

“No, we never got back together.” Tony said coldly but thought about it and added a bit more warmly. “But hey, she’s still my CEO and still my friend. We’re far better off this way. Now let me tell you about the hot little number with the Doctorate in Shakespeare from Oxford from last year.” This directed to the table at large. 

After lunch, Bruce appeared from wherever he had been holed up with Romanoff and pulled Tony aside. 

“Hey! How did the reunion go?” Tony asked. 

“Um...good? Fine? I don’t know. I barely even knew what was going on with her before, I’m definitely not sure now.” Bruce said and then he waved his words away. “It’s not important. Who are your special guests?” 

“Uh, it’s totally important, seriously? It doesn’t matter if it’s the end of the world, which it’s totally not cause we’re going to win, love is super important.” 

Bruce gave Tony a look like he just lost his mind. Crap, there was that L-word again. Yeah, that totally sounded nothing like him. Tony wanted to groan, there was no way he wasn’t blowing his cover. 

“Uh, yeah. I don’t know about love, but Nat and I will figure things out when there aren’t slightly more pressing matters. What are you hiding?” Bruce squinted at him suspiciously, like he could see what was making Tony act weird if he just looked at him right. Then again, with how much Loki seemed to have invaded his thoughts, the man’s name was probably tattooed on his eyeballs. 

“I’m not hiding anything. I just thought that you and Nat were just as important as my special guest, which you know is Thor. I mean, how else would I have known about Thanos?” Tony deflected. 

“Yeah, but you said guests, as in plural. Also, I just talked to Thor a few days ago and he didn’t mention any concerns to me. Then the next day you are calling a big save the world meeting.” 

“Huh, weird. Must not have come up. Anyways, he’ll be here shortly so we can all gather and do the big reveal and story time. Should be fun. I’m thinking outside, easier with that whole bifrost thing.” 

“Tony,” Bruce said in that special fondly frustrated way he had, “do you know who Thor is bringing with him?” 

Bruce’s guarded tone at that last bit peaked Tony’s interest. Did Bruce know who Thor was bringing with him? Was he just trying to get Tony to admit he knew Loki was alive? Tony felt like he should just come out and say it. After all, he knew Bruce knew that Loki was alive. The big mystery was how Bruce felt about it. Then again, if Bruce had strong feelings on the matter, maybe it would be better if he just heard it from Tony now. Could prevent a Code Green. 

“I’m not sure who all Thor is bringing. Probably the warrior chick, maybe Heimdall or the rock guy. But I do know that he’s definitely bringing Loki.” Tony watched Bruce’s reaction closely for any sign of green. The guy looked surprised, but that was about it. 

“I can’t believe you know Loki is alive. How did it happen? Did Thor slip up when you were in New Asgard?” Bruce looked resigned; ok, maybe this would be easier than Tony thought. 

“No, actually. He showed up before I visited. Saved my life actually.” Tony said and then laughed at Bruce’s disbelieving stare. “I know, right? It’s a weird story but it’s part of the whole Thanos thing so he’ll tell it later.” 

“Why did you not tell me about it? You had to know that I knew Loki was alive.” 

“Well, you also knew he wasn’t supposed to leave New Asgard. And as we were kinda hanging out on the regular, I wasn’t going to get the guy into trouble.” 

“Get him into trouble,” Bruce shook his head and put his fingers to his temple like he had a headache. “You deserve each other. You’re both idiots.” 

Deserve each other? Tony laughed shakily and knew that Bruce wouldn’t buy it for a second. “What do you mean by that?” 

“You could have caused so many issues if anyone had found out. Not to mention trusting Loki out in the world unsupervised.” 

“Unsupervised? I was there!” He was met by a sternly disbelieving look. “Well mostly, but fair. He isn’t all that concerned by stuff like rules and laws...” 

“And morality or the truth?” Tony winced at that, but Bruce continued. “Don’t get me wrong, I like the guy. I really do. But he was sneaking out of New Asgard for going on a year, apparently, with no one the wiser. What else is he hiding? Also, I talked to him last week and he said nothing about this Thanos thing either. He’s not someone you can completely trust, Tony.” 

But Tony was hung up on one particular detail, “Wait, you talked to him last week? Like, you talk to him regularly?” 

Bruce looked slightly abashed. “Yeah, we talk on occasion.” 

What the hell could Bruce and Loki have to talk about? “About what?” 

“Mostly? Science versus magic. He’ll ask me about scientific principles when he comes across concepts he doesn’t understand about Earth; I’ll ask him about magic rules when I think of them.” So, pretty much a lot of what Loki and Tony talked about. Which made sense, he supposed. There was a reason he got along with Bruce, it wasn’t too much of a stretch to think that Loki would as well, given how similar they were. But it was still weird. 

“Huh, I never pegged that. I honestly figured he would be really uncomfortable around you with the whole ‘Hulk smash puny god’ thing.” 

“Oh, he was, initially.” Bruce said. “I was pretty leery of him myself with the whole ‘attack on New York’ thing. We mostly avoided each other, until... you know, it was weird. One day he just sat next to me at dinner and started asking me about Earth technology. I figured at first that he was trying to dig up information to... I don’t know, do something bad once we got to Earth, so he was going to the only expert around. But then he was asking about a weird variety of scientific principles and then he was offering up information about his magic and how it works. This stretched over a few meals until I realized that he was a scholar. He had to be to learn as much about magic as he had. Even with all the crazy and the evil, that kind of curiosity doesn’t just go away. He was legitimately interested in the facts of our world that he didn’t know. It was odd, but really interesting and actually fun. I hadn’t had a good intellectual discussion since...” Bruce faded off, meeting Tony’s eyes again that half-sad smile of his. 

Tony felt pretty sad himself, he had missed Bruce terribly. He didn’t know anybody smarter than the guy with seven PhD’s, except maybe Loki, it’s amazing what you could do with a thousand years of learning. There was certainly no one from Earth that smart that he legitimately enjoyed being around. But that was all beside the point of this little conversation. 

“Yeah, he’s crazy smart.” Tony said instead. 

“And obviously hasn’t always been crazy. I mean, I know Thor had been saying for years that he wasn’t always like that but seeing another side of him for myself....” 

“Exactly! Look, I know the guy is completely unreliable, but when it comes to this, to Thanos, I trust him.” 

“Well, I guess I’ll hear the story and decide for myself and decide then.” 

“That’s all we... I mean I’m asking.” Tony said and before Bruce can give him that searching look again, he’d turned around and headed back to the group. “Let’s get a move on, they should be here soon.” 

Tony assembled, heh, everyone out on the lawn next to the launchpad currently housing the erstwhile Quinjet. He would like to say that he didn’t bask in having everyone’s attention and confusion, but he would be totally lying. His heart was beating so hard he thought he might be able to see it above the reactor. This was what he and Loki had been building towards for almost a year. Hell, this was what the Avengers had been working towards for six years since Loki’s attack on New York brought them together. With Thor back, they had the original six Avengers all together. With the additional teammates and Loki’s background knowledge, Tony was starting to have a very good feeling about this. 

“My money’s on a new Iron Man suit.” Clint snickered to Natasha. 

“Pssh!” Tony scoffed, “I don’t need special guests for that.” 

At that, Tony tapped on his reactor and felt his suit flow over him. He looked around at the grouped heroes’, mostly, admiring gazes. Though some of them, like Clint’s, were grudging. Natasha’s face was passive as always. Bruce, as expected, didn’t disappoint, he was fascinated, riveted. Tony tapped on the reactor again to have the suit flowing back, equally as impressive since most of the assembled had seen how long it would take him to get out of his armor. 

“Where did that come from?” Bruce exclaimed. 

“Nanotech, cool, huh?” Tony said, waggling his eyebrows. 

“But where?” Bruce asked. 

Tony gestured to the reactor. “It stores the parts as well as contains the energy.” 

“But how did you...?” 

“Easy, I just adjusted the hertz on the energy output.” Tony couldn’t contain his grin at finally being able to share his innovation with someone who actually got it. 

They went back and forth like this for a few minutes until the peanut gallery distracted him. 

“We lost them,” Rhodey moaned theatrically. 

“And we still don’t know who the special guests are.” Sam cut in. 

As if on cue, the bifrost hit the ground in front of them. 

“The man can make an entrance,” Tony acknowledged, simultaneously nervous an excited for the group to see who was with their teammate. 

“Thor,” Steve said with a grin. He turned to Tony. “Why did Thor have to be a special guest? He’s an Avenger.” Same as the rest of us, was the rest of the sentence that went unsaid. 

“I thought it would be a fun surprise.” Tony said, unable to keep himself from returning Steve’s smile. They were going to be all back together again, this would work. 

“My friends!” Thor called as the bifrost dissipated. With his big grin, the god strode quickly over to the group and Steve was the first to be wrapped into a hug. Valkyrie followed at a respectful distance, but that was it. Tony looked around back at the bifrost. Loki was nowhere to be seen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All those thank you's and then I do this. I'm so mean...


	21. He's Mad that Trusts in the Tameness of a Wolf

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love how everybody's been all "where's Loki?" like I'm going to tell you before the chapter comes out...

Oblivious, to Tony’s concern, Thor continued to dole out hugs and compliments, grinning bashfully as he got his own compliments at his shorter hair. He poked fun at Steve’s beard, calling it a mimic of his own. He introduced himself to Bucky. Meanwhile, Tony’s mind was racing as to where Loki could possibly be. He was pivotal to this entire situation. He promised he would be here, so why wasn’t he? 

Tony was just about to get Valkyrie’s attention while all eyes were on Thor when he felt a sharp pinch on his ass. He practically jumped a foot and turned around, but no one was behind him. 

“Looking for someone?” Loki whispered right in his ear. Tony let out the breath he hadn’t even known he’d been holding. 

“What’s with the poltergeist routine?” Tony hissed back at him. 

“Thor thought it might be better to ease everyone in to the idea of my being alive and here. I believe he was concerned for my wellbeing if I were to be attacked as soon as the bifrost touched down.” Loki sounded amused at his brother’s concern. 

It wasn’t a terrible idea, but Tony wondered how they were going to bring everything up without Loki’s presence to inspire conversation. Thor, likely with Loki’s coaching, was one step ahead of him. 

“Let’s find more comfortable quarters my friends, I have a tale to tell.” Thor winked at Tony as he led everyone inside. Tony felt the last bit tension in him dissipate. He had two gods on his side, what could possibly go wrong? 

When they were all settled in the meeting room, Thor spoke again with all the authority of the king he now was. 

“I want to officially introduce you to Valkyrie; she is the Captain of my guard and one of the Council of New Asgard.” 

Thor smiled brightly at Valkyrie who just smirked back and rolled her eyes. Tony felt an elbow nudge his right side and he grunted. 

“Yeah, yeah, I get it.” He whispered to Loki, rubbing his side. 

“Huh?” Bruce asked leaning over from his place next to Tony on the couch. “I missed that.” 

“Uh, cramp.” Tony muttered. 

“Are you not a bit curious about the lack of our special, special guest?” Bruce whispered as Thor began to regale them with the story of how he had met the Valkyrie. Tony had heard it already and Bruce had lived it, so they weren’t missing much. 

“Oh, he’s around I’m sure. Just waiting for his big entrance.” Tony said wryly and got a finger in the armpit for his trouble. “Stop that!” He hissed. 

Bruce looked around, suspicious and more than a bit alarmed, but he didn’t say anything further. 

“It was then, when we believed all had been lost, that we were saved by someone I thought I could never trust again” Thor was saying. Tony tensed, here we go. 

Thor had everyone’s rapt attention; he was a pretty terrific storyteller actually. Thor paused for dramatic effect, his gaze sweeping the room as he took in the curious and pondering faces of his teammates. 

“It was my brother, coming to save Asgard from destruction. I may not be here today to speak to you all if it wasn’t for him.” 

“Ok, please tell me you have another brother that we’ve never heard about, because I thought Loki was dead.” Clint barked. 

“Oh? Did you miss me, dear Hawk?” Loki called out a few seconds before he made himself visible. He was lounging on the arm of the couch Tony and Bruce were currently sitting on. Even knowing Loki had been around, Tony couldn’t help jumping in surprise. 

Since he was a known villain surprising a room full of superheroes, the reactions weren’t exactly mild. Clint and Natasha were the quickest, whipping out bow and gun almost instantly. Steve and Barnes weren’t too far behind them, standing up to advance upon the trickster. The rest took guarded positions, Wanda’s hands glowing red. 

“Dude, I thought the idea was not to get attacked!” Tony yelled, turning on the god. Thor and Valkyrie stood up to join Tony between Loki and the others. Bruce was the only person left sitting. Well, other than Loki who was still lounging on the couch as if nothing more interesting than a card game was occurring. 

“Oh please, Stark. If these mortals could hurt me, I wouldn’t have shown myself.” Loki drawled. 

“This wasn’t part of the plan, Loki.” Thor growled at his brother before turning to his teammates. “I swear to you that Loki means you no harm.” 

“No harm may be overstating it a bit. Would you settle for little harm?” Loki asked, smirking, obviously enjoying all the attention being on him. Tony rolled his eyes. What was the guy playing at? Did he really want everyone to hate him even more before they had a chance to listen? 

“Thor, Tony, I think you have some explaining to do.” Cap said. He then deliberately sat down again to listen to Thor’s story. It wasn’t long before everyone else was following suit. Rogers just had that effect on people. It was annoying, but currently useful. 

“Thor, you should probably finish up your story first. Might as well do this chronologically.” Tony suggested before settling down in the couch, trying to stay close enough to where Loki was lounging to show comfort without getting so close as to be suspicious. It was a very fine line. 

“As I was saying,” Thor said, shooting Loki a glare. Loki didn’t look the least bit sorry. “You see, Loki didn’t die as I believed on Svartelfheim. He had been ruling Asgard for years under the guise of our father.” 

Really? Thor was telling that part? Tony wanted to scream. How the hell could these guys live so long yet still be so stupid? Did they not understand the point of this whole endeavor was getting people to trust Loki? 

“You’re not helping your argument, Thor.” Rhodey pointed out logically. There was a reason he and Tony had been friends for so long. 

“Ah yes, but you see, even though he was completely free to do whatever he wished for years, he chose to rule Asgard. There is much he could have done with that kind of power, but he did nothing that gave himself away.” Well other than the ridiculous, over-the-top play celebrating his own life, Tony snorted. Ok, so Loki hadn’t said it was ridiculous, but Tony could make assumptions. Still, Thor had a fair point, Tony had to concede, other than that if Loki hadn’t been found out for years, he had to have been ruling well enough that he wasn’t suspicious. “When he was stuck on Sakaar with me, he helped me escape. Of course, he betrayed me briefly, but in the end, he still came after us, still saved Asgard.” 

Loki rolled his eyes at his brother’s fond smile. 

“Shall we circle back to the whole betrayal thing?” Sam asked, “Because I feel like that is kind of key here. Isn’t that what he does? Wasn't New York just a big temper tantrum because he was mad that he was adopted?” 

Loki turned his gaze to Rogers, raising an eyebrow at him speculatively. The god knew who Sam was affiliated with and therefore where he would have gotten the very classified information behind Loki’s attack. Tony looked at Rogers to see if he noticed the information that Loki was giving away with that look. 

“How do you know I’m the one who told him that?” Steve asked Loki challengingly. 

Loki opened his mouth immediately to respond before frowning and shutting it again. Tony smirked. 

“I think we’re getting a bit ahead of ourselves with that question actually.” Tony interrupted. 

“I want to hear about what he has to say to Sam’s question.” Natasha said. 

“There was a man in charge of Sakaar, the Grandmaster. Thor had escaped his little contest, and the Grandmaster sent me to bring him back. I had been on Sakaar weeks before Thor and wheedled myself into his inner circle. I didn’t believe my brother stood a chance getting off Sakaar in a ship with no weapons and practically the entire city after him. I also believed that Thor stood a better chance of living on Sakaar than facing Hela. Plus, I rather enjoyed the idea of Thor toiling in the ring while I lived it up with the Grandmaster. Getting him back as a fighter would have set me up for life.” 

It was a lot to unpack. There were some pretty disparate reasons for Loki betraying Thor and any one of them could be the real one. In fact, Tony wouldn’t be surprised if they were all motivating factors; he didn’t think Loki did anything for just one reason. Still, it was obvious that the more altruistic reasons had never occurred to Thor before, given the soft look the god was giving his brother. 

“Oh, don’t give me that look, brother. If I wanted you dead, you’d be dead. I haven’t wanted to kill you in years and even then, rarely seriously.” Loki scowled at him. Valkyrie snorted at that but didn’t offer any opinion herself. 

“That stab wound back in New York seemed pretty serious.” Steve interjected. 

Loki snorted. “That? I’ve been stabbing Thor since I first learned to wield a knife. That was merely a distraction.” 

Steve looked at Thor for confirmation; Thor nodded reluctantly. He didn’t appear to be happy about it, but he wasn’t particularly concerned either. Asgardians were weird. 

“Is that enough? Can we get on to the real matter at hand, you know, saving your pathetic world?” Loki rolled his eyes. 

That struck a note with Tony. Loki loved Earth, now at least. He loved the food, the literature, the science and he loved, Tony’s brain stuttered here, he probably more than cared about some of the people. This attitude was deliberate. It was serving a purpose, but Tony wasn’t sure what quite yet. 

“If our world is so pathetic, why do you care about saving it?” Clint asked. 

“I’m surprised it escaped your vision, dear Hawk.” Loki drawled. 

“Stop calling me that, I’m not your dear anything.” 

Loki rolled his eyes. “Well, Barton, you seem to be missing the fact that I currently live here. I care about myself, my brother, the other Asgardian’s, some select mortals of interest...” Loki glanced at Tony and Bruce together on the couch. 

Tony felt a large number of eyes suddenly turn his direction. Oh, this wasn’t awkward at all. 

“Bruce or Tony?” Rhodey asked. Tony most definitely wasn’t sweating. He also wasn’t desperately curious for Loki’s answer. 

“I’m rather fond of both of them actually. They are intelligent enough to keep up with me after all.” Loki responded, and no, Tony wasn’t at all disappointed in being lumped in with Bruce. He was relieved actually. Bruce, however, probably was disappointed, given the look of utter betrayal Natasha was giving him. 

“What?” Bruce asked her. 

“Really? Loki? You knew he was here? Alive? You are...” She seemed to struggle for a word, “friendly?” 

“Well we did come back together on the ship. He helped save everyone. He seems like he’s over the whole crazy dictator thing.” Bruce responded defensively. 

“So over it.” Loki agreed with a wry grin. “I think you are all failing to realize that I have been here for more than a year. I have instigated no physical conflicts. I certainly have no more desire to rule you all. I adore this life of leisure I am leading. Thor can have all the stress and wrinkles from ruling.” 

Thor frowned and put a hand up to his face as if testing for wrinkles. Tony smothered a chuckle at that and he was pleased to see that he wasn’t the only one trying to hide amusement at Thor’s reaction to Loki’s comment. 

“How does Tony come in to all this?” Steve asked. 

“Well, given that I have the brains of a god.” Tony cut in to a chorus of groans. Well too bad, he was taking that compliment and running with it. “Loki could tell that I was the obvious choice to help with the alien conqueror problem. I did have some impressive credentials in that area, having stopped him the last time. I’ve been keeping an eye out on the satellites and though nothing has come up yet, we have reason to believe that Thanos is close, so it was time to get the band back together.” 

“Ok, now we’re getting somewhere, who is Thanos?” Steve prodded. 

“Well, you see, as I am the only one with any personal experience with the man, that part of the story rather requires that you all trust in my tale.” Loki offered. 

“Brother, stop being difficult and just tell them the story. I believe the circumstances surrounding your last visit will help.” Thor prodded. 

Loki scowled, but acquiesced. “If you insist, brother.” 

“So, it really is ‘brother’ now?” Natasha asked. 

Loki sighed. “Yes, fine. We’ll start there.” 

Tony wondered what version of the story the Avengers were going to get. Just how much detail would Loki give them? How much had he given Thor? Hell, despite Loki’s assurances to the contrary, Tony couldn’t be 100% sure he had the full story. He suspected he did, but one never knew with Loki. Tony could practically see those wheels turning behind those green eyes. The narrative building itself as the god determined what details would suit the audience. 

“I assume Thor has told you of the circumstances of his banishment?” 

“That you were responsible for it?” Clint accused. 

“Yes, that.” Loki said without an ounce of shame. Based on what he had told Tony of how Thor had been before, the billionaire could kinda see his point. This Thor was a vast improvement. “During the course of Thor’s exile, I tried to stop the war with Jotunheim before it started. Unfortunately, I also learned at the time of my adoption and it drove me to... let’s say drastic measures. Fortunately, Thor returned and stopped me before I had done too much damage. Less fortunately, I couldn’t see that at the time. All I knew was I had failed; I thought I had lost my one chance to prove my worth to my adopted father. So, hanging from a spear over the vast emptiness of the void, I let go.” 

Thor’s face went slightly pale and Tony couldn’t blame him. It was definitely unexpected that Loki would not only share this very personal detail but right off the bat too. Tony actually felt Bruce’s hand clench the cushion of the couch, reminding him that Bruce too had felt hopeless, had tried to end things. Lacking a better idea, Tony scooted over on the sofa until he was shoulder to shoulder with his friend, offering comfort without anything overt. 

Loki, too, was a master of the dramatic pause and Tony had time to take the measure of the rest of the room. Most faces were deadly serious. Tony hoped Loki wouldn’t concentrate on Steve’s face, knew the god wouldn’t like the look of pity. Barnes was, probably expectedly, sympathetic. 

“It’s not easy to admit, even now, but the void drove me insane, which made me a perfect plaything for the Chitauri. They had their fun with me until they found out I was Asgardian, so then, they gave me to Thanos.” Loki didn’t suppress his usual shudder at the name. 

He just sunk into a chair and proceeded to tell the story of the attack on the Asgardian ship and the subsequent messing around with time, more or less how he had told it to Tony. He left out a lot of details, some Tony understood why, like his Frost Giant origins and his interest in Tony, others, well who knew why? He was the God of Lies after all. 

But at last he came to the resolution. “I found myself back on the ship, this time without the Tesseract; only a note that informed me that it had been destroyed. This time our ship made it to Earth and here we are.” Loki gestured demonstratively around the room. Tony wondered how many people would actually believe him. 

“Bullshit.” Barton commented. Well that was completely expected. 

“Ok, give him some credit Barton; he’s better than that. He would totally come up with a more believable story if he was lying. I mean just look at sci-fi, time travel has more holes than swiss cheese.” Tony interjected. 

“That weirdly makes a lot of sense.” Rhodey agreed. 

“I don’t sense any falsehood from him.” Vision added, and Wanda nodded her agreement. 

“Barton, you have personal experience that verifies at least part of my story.” Loki added, Clint narrowed his eyes at the god. “First of all, you saw me when I arrived, have you ever seen Thor look that beaten, that ill?” 

Clint stayed silent. 

“Did you think that I would have chosen to eat nothing? To never sleep, if the decision had been mine?“ Loki didn’t let up and Tony swore he could see the archer softening. “Also, when I had the staff with the Mind Stone, I would often be interrupted. That was the Other touching my mind, ensuring the connection stayed. Did it look like I enjoyed those conversations?” 

Barton sighed then, and it was weird how that sent a wave of shock and belief throughout the group. 

“Doubt if you will that I care for any on this planet but myself, but be assured, Thanos wants me punished for my failure here. I lost him not one, but two Infinity Stones; I arranged to have both destroyed.” 

“You...but...that was a trick?” Bruce stuttered. 

“Not a trick, I just needed you to be thinking about it. You came up with everything from there. It really was brilliant.” Loki gave Bruce one of his rare, genuine smiles. 

“Yeah, but, why didn’t you just tell me why?” Bruce asked, which let’s be honest was kind of the main question about Loki in general. 

Loki, for his part, just gave Bruce his one shouldered shrug. 

“I’ve been asking that question for centuries, Banner. You’ll never get a straight answer. Loki has always kept his own council.” Well, mostly, Tony thought smugly. But Thor continued. “Avengers, I know it’s a lot to ask and I can’t tell you that Loki has told you everything or that it was all the truth, but I believe his words and believe that Thanos is coming. I’ve told you stories of my childhood, tried to give you a sense for my brother as he had been. This is him. We’ve all changed in the past few years, but this is the brother I remember.” 

Loki’s face was completely blank, not daring to show what he thought of that particular sentiment, even when it probably would have benefitted him. But Tony could see the softness in his eyes, knew that the statement meant something to him. 

Steve turned to Valkyrie, “Valkyrie, ma’am,” She startled, surprised to be addressed. “What is your take on this? You’re Asgardian, but not related to him, so I am curious.” 

Valkyrie looked at Loki consideringly for a second. “Loki’s first thought and first priority will always be himself.” 

Loki smirked at that and Tony had to reluctantly agree. 

“But,” She continued, “I think his second priority is Thor. Anything that threatens both him and his brother? I wouldn’t want to stand in their way.” 

Steve nodded at that and Tony was tempted to pump his fist in victory. He abstained. 

“Considering this is Loki and considering the potential stakes if he’s right, I feel like we need everyone in on this. Who believes this story and is willing to work with him?” 

Thor and Tony raised their hands immediately; Loki soon followed just to be a shit. Valkyrie raised her hand with a roll of her eyes and Rhodey and Bruce did the same. Vision joined them in agreement which brought Wanda on board. 

Tony knew that Sam and Barnes would follow Steve’s lead whatever he chose. Romanoff and Barton would probably also vote together. 

“I want to trust you, Loki, which makes me a little suspicious. But I trust Tony and I trust Thor. Moreover, your story checks out and frankly, you’re different. There are some similarities personality-wise, but something has definitely changed since you were here last. I’m willing to take some things on faith and give you the benefit of the doubt.” Steve looked over at Bucky, “Everyone deserves a second chance.” 

It was then that Tony understood the reasoning behind Loki’s attitude. He was very much being himself, uninhibited, uncaring of what people thought. But it was all an act to very carefully manipulate what people thought. If he had shown up all penitent and humble, no one would have believed it for a second. As it was, he was just the right amount of the Loki they expected, with enough logic and regret coming through to lend truth to his story. It was masterful, and Tony was tempted to applaud. Instead, he just clapped Loki on the shoulder in a completely platonic friendly way, of course. Loki looked at Tony and since that had him facing away from the group at large, gave Tony a true smile. 

Steve raised his hand and as predicted Barnes and Wilson followed. Now it was just down to the former spies. 

“Clint?” Natasha asked. 

“Look, we’re not done talking through this shit and I am definitely still pissed. I don’t know how I’m going to be able to look at that face and just go along with working with you but...” 

“Well that is easy enough to solve.” Loki interrupted before shifting into female form. 

Tony was kinda proud that he was the only non-Asgardian to not look completely flabbergasted by this turn of events. 

“So, that happened.” Bruce commented. “How did we never cover shapeshifting? Or is this an illusion?” 

“It’s not an illusion, I have shifted my shape to that of a woman. It’s a particular talent of mine. Also, you never asked. I do so enjoy surprising people.” Loki responded. 

“Maybe we should refrain from surprising Banner too often, sister.” Thor responded. 

‘Sister?’ Rhodey mouthed to Tony who just shrugged. Yeah, he hadn’t given much thought to that particular dynamic either. But good for Thor being all casual and accepting. 

“Will this suffice, Barton?” Loki asked Clint then, blinking her long lashes and looking far more innocent than she did in her male form. 

“Yeah, no. This is way weirder. You can go back to being the Loki we know and hate. I believe you.” Clint said, which, rude, but whatever, as long as he went along with things. 

But Clint raised his hand and Natasha followed. Tony heaved a sigh of relief, it was unanimous. 

“Well, I think that was very good work for one day. I don’t know about the rest of you all, but I’m beat. Why don’t we call it a day and we can all reconvene in the morning for heavy duty planning?” It had only been a few hours since lunch, but Tony was anxious to break up the group on a high note. He knew that the longer they all talked the more likely something was going to blow up and his first guess was his boyfriend. Loki had turned back into his male self and was nodding in agreement. 

At that, they all broke apart into small groups, some heading to the gym others to the various common areas. 

“Where’s Loki going to stay?” Steve asked. 

“I’m sure we have a spare room lying around somewhere, Steve. This place is pretty big.” 

“No,” Romanoff butted in. “I don’t trust him alone in the compound. He should have someone with him at all times.” 

“I thought we had all pledged to trust me? Or did I miss the purpose of all those raised hands moments ago?” Loki asked nonchalantly. 

“I trust you enough to believe you about Thanos. I believe that you are actually working to stop the person who actively means you harm. That doesn’t mean I trust you not to get into trouble around here.” 

“Well, they don’t call me the God of Mischief for nothing,” Loki shrugged. 

“Look, guys, Loki has stayed with me. It’s fine. He can stay here too.” Tony cut in. 

“You let him stay in your tower? With your lab?” Clint practically gasped. 

In his tower, in his room, in his bed.... but yeah, probably not going to get into that one. 

“I will also remind you that Loki is free to go where he will on New Asgard as one of my council. Also, he has agreed to not hide himself from Heimdall’s sight. If that changes, Heimdall will call us.” Thor put in. “But if it will make everyone more comfortable, he can stay with me in my room.” 

“That would very much not make me comfortable, brother. You snore.” Loki accused. 

Thor laughed. “Of course, I don’t. Come brother, I will show you to my room.” 

Thor gestured with his hand and Loki started walking with a significant slump to his shoulders that Tony couldn’t help but laugh at. It looked like they were going to have to work a bit harder for their alone time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that wasn't so bad! I'm sure it's all downhill from here ; )


	22. Love Looks Not with the Eyes but with the Mind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another Tony POV chapter. I just wanted to address that I know that a lot of people were looking forward to the Thor and Loki confrontation, but I have a very specific narrative purpose for leaving that out and sticking with Tony's POV for now. Please bear with me! 
> 
> For now, a short little fluff chapter : )

Tony tried to settle down, laying on his bed and staring up at the ceiling. Well, they had done it, mostly. There was still a hell of a lot to talk about; there would still be arguments and distrust, but they were here. After the meeting broke up, Steve had wanted to get together to plan. Tony had agreed and took the opportunity to give the Captain the new shield he had designed for him. That was awkward to say the least. Tony tried not to picture the emotion shining in those blue eyes, but he found he couldn’t really stop. 

There was guilt there, which Tony felt bad because there was something gratifying to that. Some dark little corner of his heart was pleased that Steve seemed to recognize, at least in part, just how personal it was for Tony. Then again, Tony had felt guilty about the whole thing for years, of course culminating in hours in the shop making the stupid shield, that to be fair, he had designed before everything had happened, so maybe it evened out? Tony groaned and sat up, looking around the room for something to distract him. 

That was when a small black cat wandered in through the door he had left ajar. It scanned the room before fixing its large yellow-green eyes on Tony. It sat down just inside the room like he belonged here. The cat meowed plaintively. 

“You are definitely in the wrong place, little guy.” Tony said awkwardly. How the hell did a cat get in here? Was it Wanda’s? He really wouldn’t be surprised. Black cats and witches went together right? 

Seemingly ignoring his words, the cat meandered forward and jumped onto the bed next to Tony. It then proceeded to rub up against him. Without really thinking about it, Tony ran his hand down the cat’s soft back. The cat purred like a motor boat and leaned into the touch, prompting Tony instinctively to pet more. Tony was more than a little nonplussed about the cat on his bed. Generally, animals and he had a mutual ‘don’t bother me and I won’t bother you’ rule. He’d never had pets as a kid, the closest he had ever come were DUM-E, U and Butterfingers. 

“You cannot possibly be a normal cat. Normal cats don’t wander into the Avengers compound unnoticed. And they definitely don’t like me.” Tony told the kitty. 

The cat gave a noise that sounded a bit like a snort before it began shimmering with green-gold. Tony had a second to think, well duh, before his boyfriend was sitting next to him on the bed. 

“They say animals are far better judges of character than people. So, what should I take from the fact that cats don’t like you, Stark?” Loki asked him, leaning casually against the bed now. He flicked his fingers at the door to close it for good measure. 

“That you are a terrible judge of character, even in cat form?” Tony asked. 

Loki laughed. “I believe your Avengers would counter that you were the terrible judge of character.” 

“Eh, who cares about those schmucks? They agreed to work with us, that’s all that matters. So, what’s with the Animagus routine?” Tony asked, knowing Loki would get this reference. Tony had introduced him to Harry Potter pretty early on, delighting in the sorcerer’s mix of disgust at the portrayal of magic and amusement at the actual storytelling. 

“I thought that it was prudent for me not to just teleport into your room in case there were others around.” Loki said nonchalantly; which of course meant that he felt anything but nonchalant. 

Loki could easily teleport in invisibly as he had done since that time with Pepper, so there was something more to this. Tony had a feeling that Loki had specifically wanted to show him that he could turn into animals. Tony’s reaction was important; this was a test. 

“Or, you just wanted to introduce me to Lokitty.” Tony teased. 

Loki scowled. “Not an acceptable nickname, Stark.” 

“Come on! It’s so obvious! How could I resist?” Tony whined. 

“Last time, when I informed you that I didn’t want to be called after a feline, you called me Scar. I didn’t understand the reference, but it was in particularly bad taste considering you had just seen mine.” Loki said, but he didn’t look hurt or mad, just amused. 

It was always weird to hear about the things the other Tony had said or done. It did totally sound like him, though. Coming up with a villain kitty name and therefore putting his foot firmly in his mouth. Then he thought about the Lion King and started laughing. Loki raised an eyebrow at him in question and Tony laughed harder. 

“I fail to see the humor, Stark.” 

“Scar is the villain in The Lion King. Which is basically a kid’s version of Hamlet.” Tony managed to splutter before erupting in giggles again. 

The corner of Loki’s mouth twitched, and Tony’s laughter quieted as he watched the god try not to laugh. 

“Barton came to see me while you were visiting with the Captain.” Loki said out of nowhere. 

“Really?” Tony said, hoping that Loki would actually provide the details he was dying for. 

Loki hummed in the affirmative. “It went well I think.” 

“What did he want?” 

“An apology, of course.” 

“And...” It was seriously worse than pulling teeth, dragging every last detail out of the god. 

“And I gave it. I’ve told you how I felt about that. It cost me nothing to offer the apology and likely did quite a lot in my favor.” Loki said. 

Huh, finally Loki wasn’t getting in his own way. Maybe he really was getting better. Of course, Tony knew better than to make any sort of comment on that, so it was change the subject time. 

“So, is Thor asleep already?” Tony asked. 

“Snoring away,” Loki scowled for a moment before quickly turning a mischievous grin to Tony. “He may have gotten a little bit of help.” 

“Really? And why would you be so dead-set on getting your brother to sleep?” Tony asked, liking where this was going. He leaned in closer to Loki. 

Loki hummed happily. “I thought my mortal could use a reward for managing to keep his hands off me all day.” 

“What kind of reward did you have in mind?” 

“Well, letting you put your hands on me, of course.” Loki responded as he slid into Tony’s lap. Tony quickly acted as prompted. Refamiliarizing himself with all the curves of Loki’s body. Oh, and his lips, couldn’t forget those lips. 

Their activity was halted fairly quickly by a knock on the door. In a swift movement, Loki jumped off the bed. He was seated in the desk chair just as Bruce entered the room. 

“Oh, sorry. Am I interrupting something?” Bruce blurted, looking quickly between the two. 

“Nah, Loki was just trying to escape Thor’s snoring until he was actually tired enough to sleep through it.” Tony responded, feeling like he was channeling the Liesmith with how quickly he came up with that one. 

“And who else would tire me out more swiftly than Stark?” Loki asked. 

Bruce laughed. Tony groaned dramatically, secretly laughing internally at the innuendo. 

“If you really want to get to sleep, get him to talk about programming his bots; puts me down every time.” Bruce offered. 

“Yeah, yeah, everyone is a comedian. I think you guys forget that I am supposed to be the funny one.” Tony insisted. 

“That was before I came around, Stark. You are now relegated to the tech guy.” Loki offered. How dare he! 

“But, what would people do without my quips? Bruce, tell him, you love my quips.” 

Bruce looked between the two of them still, but smiled, seemingly far more comfortable now that he understood the dynamic. 

“You are allowed one quip per day, use it wisely. I will be responsible for the rest.” Loki deigned to allow him one? Oh, it was on. 

“Bruce, come on man. You can’t let him do this to me.” Tony pleaded. 

“But Tony, you do have the tech thing. If you took this away from Loki, what would he have?” Bruce joined in the game. 

“Magic? What else?” Tony said. 

“Well that’s kind of already Wanda’s thing.” Bruce responded. 

“I beg your pardon? That child?” Loki scoffed. Ha! How the tides had turned. Tony basked in Loki’s ire. 

“Well from a teammate standpoint, she came first.” Tony dug the knife in a little deeper. 

“I have clothing older than her grandparents, and I won't even mention the age of my old armor, Stark. It doesn’t even compute.” 

“But then if she didn’t have magic, what would Wanda’s thing be? See, we could be here all night.” Bruce rejoined. 

Loki pouted in his completely adorable way. Tony felt an actual physical ache from not being able to bite that protruding lower lip. 

“Fine, I take funny, Stark takes tech and we’re all slightly disappointed.” Loki humphed, arms folded petulantly. 

“Sounds like a compromise to me.” Bruce laughed. “Loki, would you mind terribly if Tony and I talked for a while? It’s been a while since we caught up.” 

Loki’s face went back to its neutral mask. “Of course not, Banner. I suppose I will go back and just magically mute my brother. But if I accidently suffocate him instead I’m blaming you.” 

Loki said goodnight to the both of them and now Tony wanted to pout. He was slightly mollified by the look Loki shot him once he was behind Bruce’s back. The look was pure yearning. He obviously didn’t want to leave any more than Tony wanted to let him. But any clue otherwise would be deeply suspicious. Loki sighed and walked out the door and turned right, heading down the hall to Thor’s room. 

Bruce started talking then, wanting to go over the group’s reactions to Loki and dynamics. At least, that’s what Tony thought he was talking about. Frankly, he really wasn’t paying all that much attention. All he could think about was Loki’s forlorn face, his smooth skin under Tony’s hands, that biteable lip. 

“What do you think?” Bruce asked, bringing Tony’s attention back to the conversation at hand. 

“Huh?” 

Bruce looked bemused. “Maybe we should discuss this tomorrow after you’ve had some sleep.” 

“Great idea, Bruce. Sleep. Yep, that is just the thing I need.” Tony practically shooed his friend out the door. 

Once he was sure that Bruce could no longer hear him, Tony called out “Loki?” Tony had no idea if Loki could hear him with his magic or not, but it seemed to be worth a try. Unfortunately, it looked like magic couldn’t do everything because no god showed up to ravish him. Tony just had to hope that Loki would check in again after waiting a while. 

Tony laid on his bed to wait for the trickster. Maybe a nap would put him in better form for their strenuous activities later. He fell asleep quickly, his lascivious plans still dancing in his head. 

 

'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'

 

When Tony woke up the next morning and realized that Loki had never come back, he was understandably disappointed. He sighed, this was likely going to be the way of things for a while, so he should probably just get used to it. Still, no harm in stopping by his buddy’s room and saying hi, right? 

Tony made his way down the hall and saw that the door to Thor’s room was already open. He leaned in to see Thor putting his armor on and Loki meditating. 

“Hey guys, how did you sleep?” Tony asked. 

“Very well, Stark.” Thor answered. “Suspiciously well,” he continued with a sideline look at his brother. Loki’s lips curled in a minute smile. 

Of course, Tony had no answer to that. He knew absolutely nothing about why Thor would have slept suspiciously well, nope. 

“Huh,” was all Tony offered and Loki’s smile increased briefly before he tried to wipe it into calm meditation again. 

“Currently, I am just waiting for my brother to be done with his morning ritual before heading to breakfast. I am starving.” Thor growled. 

“Hey, I can stay here with Lokes and you can head to breakfast.” Tony offered. 

Thor gave Tony a searching look that made him a bit uncomfortable. He couldn’t read this face like he usually could with Thor. Did he suspect something? But finally, Thor just gave him a nod. 

“Thank you, Stark. I will see you both in the dining hall.” Thor attached his cape before heading out to get some much-needed food. 

“I missed you last night.” Tony said as soon as Thor had left. 

Loki continued in his meditation pose but opened his eyes at that. “I missed you too.” Loki said easily. “Unfortunately, I fell asleep.” Loki gave him a sheepish, regretful shrug. “I must have been more tired than I thought.” 

Since that was pretty much exactly what had happened to Tony, he couldn’t exactly be annoyed about it. Annoyed by the situation sure, but not at Loki. 

“Oh well, we’ll try again tonight.” Tony said, far more lightly than he felt. “What’s the plan for today?” 

“Well, I do have tentative trust, now we need to solidify it. I’m sparring with my brother this morning, but after I think a very concise battle plan seems to reassure most.” 

“Walk to breakfast with me?” Tony asked, apropos of nothing. 

Loki’s face showed his regret, “I shouldn’t. I need to finish meditating and I still believe that too much evidence of us spending time alone would be suspicious.” 

Tony sighed, he seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. Part of him wanted Loki to just throw logic out the window for a few minutes and really act like this was as hard for him as it was for Tony. But, Tony also knew that Loki throwing things like logic out the window seemed to lead to him throwing other things, or more specifically people, out them as well. So instead, Tony leaned in to give Loki a kiss that was far more chaste than he preferred. “Fine, I’ll see you later.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On a mostly unrelated note, I'm almost done writing this bad boy and while I do have a little short epilogue piece that I'm planning to post I am fresh out of ideas. Some of my best ideas have come from your guy's comments so, anybody have any story ideas for me? Whether it's continuing on in this particular AU or just Marvel related in general? I'm open to suggestion, I'm just having too much fun to quit now! 
> 
> Thanks again for all your comments and kudos!


	23. The Time is Out of Joint

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before we get started check out some awesome art done by Keshyx! Thank you so much for sharing!  
> https://www.deviantart.com/keshyx/art/Hello-Lokitty-769539549?ga_submit_new=10%3A1540317807
> 
> Also, Chapter Titles! As it turns out, there's a lot you can do when you are avoiding writing a conclusion so I went in and came up with chapter titles for Time's Up and In Time. Time's Up titles are all AC/DC songs and In Time is all Shakespeare quotes. I hope you enjoy!

Tony got himself some food in the dining hall and sat next to Rhodey and began to pretend like he had an appetite beyond the nervous rumbling of his stomach. Something felt off; Tony couldn’t peg exactly what it was, but it was making him twitchy. Fortunately, at that moment, Natasha walked into the dining hall, which thoroughly distracted him. Then again she may also have been the source of why things felt off. 

“Good morning! Your hair looks very nice.” Steve called to her. Natasha frowned in confusion, but just nodded to Steve and said the same, minus the hair comment of course. 

“What made you decide to do it that way?” Wanda asked her and now Natasha was looking really confused. 

Tony had a sneaking suspicion that Natasha had not intended to dye her hair back to the red they all remembered. And if that was the case, he knew exactly who was at fault here. Tony had a moment where he was torn between amusement at the harmless joke and frustration at Loki being his own worst enemy once more. 

“I was really missing the red. Glad you changed it back.” Tony said. Ok, amusement won. 

Natasha had sat down at this point so, she took her spoon and used it to examine her reflection. When she saw the bright red hair, she scowled and looked around the room for a certain trickster. The scowl deepened when she saw that Loki wasn’t around. Thor too, frowned when he realized that Loki wasn’t with Tony. 

“Where is my brother, Stark?” Thor asked at the same time that Natasha asked the room at large, “Where is that bastard?” 

“He wanted to finish up his meditating and I didn’t feel like waiting for food.” As if to offset his previous lack of appetite, Tony shoveled a few mouthfuls of food in at once. It was like trying to swallow a rock, but he managed it. 

Thor sighed, “When he arrives, I will ensure that he changes your hair back and apologizes.” 

Tony wondered how many times over the centuries Thor had to say something to that effect. Probably too many to count. 

Natasha frowned in thought, but just started to eat her cereal. The group stayed mostly silent, throwing Natasha and Thor concerned, worried glances until Clint and Loki walked in. 

Tony didn’t know what confluence of events came together that Loki and Clint walked in together, but it was weird. They didn’t look like they were best friends or anything, but they certainly didn’t seem to be at each other’s throats. They were walking comfortably and companionably. They stayed together until they had gotten food, breaking apart at the table, with Loki sitting by his brother and Clint sitting by Natasha. As soon as he sat down, Clint eyed Natasha’s hair and the scowl she wore then looked around at the nearly silent table before looking accusingly at Loki. 

“Seriously, dude?” Clint asked him. 

Loki’s face was the perfect ‘who me?’ innocent expression. Of course, no one bought it. 

“Return Natasha’s hair back to her preferred color, Loki.” Thor growled. 

“But it’s so much lovelier when it’s red. I can’t be the only one who thinks that.” Loki said looking around the table for support. 

Tony definitely agreed, but everyone else seemed to be avoiding eye contact. Hah, Loki was right, but everyone was too afraid of Romanoff to admit it. 

“Fine, if she wants to be a run-of-the-mill blonde, then bland she shall be.” Loki said, waving his hand and Natasha’s hair returned to the golden shade she had been sporting. 

Natasha checked her reflection again and then scowled at him. “Try anything like that again, I dare you.” 

“Oh, you don’t want to dare me. I take that very seriously.” Loki grinned. 

“Well, as seriously as he takes anything.” Thor said, rolling his eyes. 

At that, the group dynamic had been mostly corrected and inane chatter filled the dining hall once again. You could almost bleieve that they group had always been a team with how they fit together. That is, except for Natasha’s suspicious glares she kept shooting Loki and the heavy gaze Thor kept holding on Tony. 

Tony was relieved when Thor was done eating and stood up. The god met his brother’s eyes and the two of them got up and left the room together with Valkyrie joining them. With the trickster no longer in the room, Natasha looked at Tony suspiciously. Well, Tony was not going to miss his chance to finally see the two brothers spar, so he got up from the table. Yep, it was only for that reason, not any other. It wasn’t long before Tony caught up to them as they were walking casually outside. He definitely had not been running, though. 

The foursome made their way to a part of the grounds that didn’t have grass for them to trample. Loki conjured two quarterstaffs and he and Thor took places opposite each other in a readying stance. Tony made himself comfortable on the ground and Valkyrie joined him. They sat in companionable silence, both completely intent on the brothers’ interaction in front of them. Tony suspected, however, that they were both distracted by different brothers. 

When they finally got around to the sparring portion, Loki got Thor right out the gate, jabbing to the right before Thor had a chance to block. Thor’s brow furrowed in confusion, but when he spotted Loki’s smug face he quickly got back to concentrating. The rest of the sparring went slower with neither side getting any good hits for quite a while. Tony wasn’t bored though. He was completely soaking up the excuse to stare at Loki, admire those long legs and taut muscles, without anyone thinking it was weird. Tony was so rapt in the back and forth that he didn’t even realize that the audience had grown to beyond he and Valkyrie until Thor caught Loki in the stomach and there was a round of applause. 

Tony looked behind him and sure enough, with apparently nothing better to do, the entire compound was outside watching Thor and Loki spar. Thor nodded his head to his friends while Loki tried to fight a scowl at the obvious glee in him taking a hit. 

“Perhaps since we have such an audience, we should give them a real show, Brother?” Thor offered. 

Loki eyed his brother skeptically before looking out at his obviously interested audience. He rolled his eyes then and disappeared their quarterstaffs, accepting without really agreeing. 

“Though, we will need some ground rules.” Thor said. 

“What? Afraid that I will embarrass you in front of your friends?” Loki jeered. 

“No teleporting or doubles,” Thor continued, ignoring Loki’s jab. “That isn’t a proper fight.” 

“You have your magic weapon and lightning, Thor. Would you really deprive me of my own skills?” Loki gave Thor a pathetic puppy dog look that made Thor chuckle. 

“Then I will not use Stormbreaker or my lighting.” Thor offered. 

“Well that would just be boring. Use them, you’ll likely need it. I will even promise not to teleport or use doubles.” 

“Or invisibility!” Valkyrie shouted, and Loki glared at her, obviously annoyed that she had found that particular loophole. 

“I will use no magic that hides my position or removes me from the battlefield. Happy now?” Loki’s voice was petulant. 

Tony was distracted by the interested murmurs behind him as the Avengers took in this information about Loki’s skills. Tony had a sudden flash of insight that this exchange had also been carefully cultivated. They were very coyly announcing Loki’s skills that he could bring to a battle, while also forcing him into a duel that would show off his martial skills as well. Loki would impress on two fronts without having to use his still somewhat depleted magic stores. Once again Tony was forced to admit that Loki too was a genius. 

“I believe you’ve tied my hands enough to make you confident in this duel,” Loki continued with a smirk, vanishing their quarterstaffs and conjuring a pair of daggers. Thor held out his hand and Stormbreaker came whistling through the air to it just as Mjolnir used to. The giant axe was definitely more intimidating than the hammer had ever been though. Tony found himself getting a bit nervous for Loki’s sake. Those tiny little knives seemed like needles compared to the massive axe. 

“Prepare yourself, brother. I won’t hold back.” Thor challenged. 

“Please try to keep up.” Loki offered. 

Immediately, a blaze of white shot down from the sky right on top of Loki. It shattered, light spreading in all directions on an invisible barrier just over the sorcerer’s head. 

“I could have never predicted that.” Loki deadpanned, sliding towards Thor and throwing one of his knives, which Thor easily avoided. 

Once they were within arm's reach, they went mostly hand to hand, Loki moving between trying to get under Thor’s guard to stab him and trying to hold off the massive axe. Not for the first time, Tony suspected that Loki was using magic to beef up his strength. Thor still appeared to have the edge here causing Loki to expend way more effort blocking blows than trying to get them in. But Thor didn’t seem to have as much of a leg up on Loki as he should, given their disparate body types. 

Finally, Loki seemed to give up on the hand to hand, rolling backwards under a mighty swing of Stormbreaker and tossing a ball of green fire at Thor mid-roll. Thor had obviously been anticipating a knife rather than fire and just used his hand to deflect it. The fire hit bare skin and Thor pulled his hand back immediately into himself, hissing at the burn. Loki just smirked. 

Thor used some sort of magic to jump so high and long he was practically flying, unless that really was just an Asgardian thing, to get back to Loki and continue where he had been at the advantage. Loki kept trying to back out of reach, but Thor pressed on him and Loki was too busy defending to get a clear exit. As he blocked a punch with one of his vambraces, there was a bright flash and Loki jumped, obviously shocked by a bit of lightning. 

Thor backed away then to give his brother time to recover, which just made Loki’s scowl that much deeper. Loki shot what looked like a spear of ice out of his hand. Stormbreaker shattered it easily, but it was still pretty impressive looking. Something of the Frost Giant in him, perhaps? 

The brothers went on like this for far longer than they had at the quarterstaffs. Thor continuously trying to press Loki into hand to hand and Loki trying to get movement and range for his magical attacks, fighting with his seemingly endless supply of knives when he couldn’t. Finally, Loki just shrugged and hopped into the air, stopping a foot above the ground like he had just stepped onto a staircase that no one else could see. Laughing, he took several more steps up until he was right above Thor. 

“If you’re resorting to breaking the rules, you might as well just yield, brother.” Thor called up to him annoyed. 

“And what rules have I broken?” Loki asked, folding his arms with an air of superiority. 

“You said you would not use magic to leave the field of battle.” 

“I’m still on the field of battle, just slightly above it.” 

“You’re using magic to get away from me,” Thor accused. 

“Thor, you can fly.” Loki countered, voice heavy with exasperation. 

That caused a chuckle to run through the audience as it was Thor’s turn to scowl. He had obviously been outvoted on this particular ruling. Still, he got over it quickly and flew up into the air. The battle continued above ground then, with Thor flying and Loki hopping around on scattered, invisible hard surfaces. Frankly, in this area, Loki looked far more impressive, showing off his acrobatic moves while Thor just hovered. 

As one would expect, eventually Loki got in his own way. He was jumping out of the way from Thor with a particular flourish and didn’t notice the sparking fist that followed Stormbreaker. He fell about ten feet to the ground, hitting dirt with a heavy groan. Thor flew down and stood over him, arm out to help him up. 

“Do you yield?” Thor asked. 

Loki grabbed his arm to help up but didn’t explicitly state his defeat. The audience had obviously determined a winner as everyone started clapping. Tony clapped too, but his was for Loki and he knew his god would know the difference. 

From the other side of the field there was an echoing clapping that had mingled with their own. It wasn’t until their applause dropped off that Tony noticed it. This clapping continued at a slow steady pace until all the group’s attention was diverted upon the figure. 

“Sorry to break up the party, but I believe you have something that belongs to me.” The man said in a deep, gravelly voice. 

He was quite large, easily a few feet taller than Thor and even more heavily muscled and stocky. He was dressed in gaudy gold armor which definitely did not remind Tony of what Loki used to wear. What was most distinctive about the man was that his skin was a deep purple. He walked forward on heavy footsteps until he was just a few feet from Thor and Loki, who both instinctively stepped back towards the group at large. 

The man, who could only be Thanos, advanced on the brothers. Now that the alien’s identity was established, Tony only had eyes for the trickster. Loki had lost what little color he had to his pale face. His backwards steps were stumbling as if he was fighting to stay on legs that had gone weak with fear. As the gods got closer to the main group, Tony unthinkingly held his arms out to grab Loki’s shoulders. Loki startled and looked behind to see who had grabbed him. When they made eye contact, Tony felt a shudder of fear that rolled like acid through his stomach. He really didn’t like seeing those green eyes so wide with terror. 

Thanos stopped then and held up a fist intimidatingly. It wasn’t the right stance for a threat, he was just showing off the gold Infinity Gauntlet and the Stones he already had. As Loki had deduced, there was the purple Power Stone; the Reality Stone shone brilliant red; the Soul Stone was in the center, glowing a deep orange. But next to the Soul Stone, was another Infinity Stone, an impossible Stone. Shining in a beautiful blue that was so similar to the glow of Tony’s arc reactor was the Space Stone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Sigh* We're in the end game now...
> 
> Big thanks to Arcadii for the idea of Loki pranking Natasha to turn her hair red : ) I really don't like the blonde so I was so on board with this idea!


	24. When Sorrows Come, They Come not in Single Spies, but in Battalions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear I'm not hiding. I so hate being less responsive in the comments than I usually am, but I am just so afraid that I will give something away when you are all talking about your theories and ideas! So please know if I don't respond to your comment it's not that I didn't read or appreciate it! Thanks

“Loki, that’s the Tesseract,” Thor said, turning to his brother in confusion. 

“That’s not possible,” Loki stuttered, startled out of his mute dread. 

“I see Loki has been telling you tales. You thought he destroyed it? No, he gave it to me, its rightful possessor.” Thanos said in a particularly amused, superior tone. 

Loki laughed darkly. “You should leave the falsehoods to the Liesmith. You are terrible at them.” 

Thanos chuckled and turned his attention to the rest of the group, coalescing behind Thor and Loki, glaring at Thanos with readying stances. 

“It looks like you’ve got them all quite convinced, Loki. I’m impressed.” 

“Be impressed all you like but leave now.” Steve said. “You’re clearly outnumbered, and we’ve destroyed the Mind Stone, so there is nothing for you here.” 

“Oh, I’m not here for the Mind Stone. Loki told me of its destruction.” Thanos said. Loki frowned, looking back at Tony. Loki had mentioned that he had said as much in his dream. Was Thanos actually managing to invade his mind? Even without the Mind Stone? “I’ll correct that easily enough once I have the Time Stone.” 

“Sure, if you can find it.” Tony offered. 

“You don’t understand. I know everything Loki knows. He knows the location of the Time Stone, it’s protections, it’s weaknesses and so do I. So, if that’s all, I’ll be taking my little god back with me.” Thanos took a few steps forward. 

Thor stepped up in front of Loki and brought a bolt of lightning down upon Thanos big enough to white out Tony’s vision. When Tony’s sight returned there was a cloud of bubbles floating harmlessly away from Thanos and not an ounce of damage. 

“Your loyalty is as adorable as your power. I suppose I'll have to go with different tack then. Shame, we could have kept this ruse going for far longer.” Thanos turned away from Thor and made eye contact with Loki, who flinched under that cold gaze. “The Black Order is on their way to the Time Stone. We’ve almost won, and I don’t need your distraction any more. Have your fun, crush them, but finish up this façade and come back.” 

Loki nodded and Thanos raised an eyebrow at him. “Yes, master.” Loki intoned reluctantly, and Tony’s limbs went weak with icy cold trepidation. 

Thanos disappeared then, melting into the background until it was almost as if he had never been there. But then Loki turned to face the group at large. The distress on his face melted smoothly into a satisfied smile. Tony felt nausea welling up in his gut. Somehow, Mind Stone or no, Thanos had brainwashed Loki. That had to be it. Maybe there was some remaining juice from the last time that the Titan had tapped into. They needed to snap him out of it. 

Natasha apparently agreed. Before Loki could say so much as a word, the former assassin took the few steps forward she needed before kicking Loki smack in the temple. Loki’s head whipped to the side and he staggered in shock. It took him several seconds to compose himself. He was rubbing his jaw as he turned back to them. His eyes were still that soft green that Tony knew so well. He turned them on to Natasha. 

“Good thought, but I’ve never been under mind control.” Loki said, and Tony practically shivered at how calm, how cold his voice was. “No, this was all me and it was so much fun.” 

“You gave Thanos the Tesseract?” Barton accused. 

“Yes!” Loki said, his smile widening with pride. “And the location of Strange’s sanctum and exactly how and when the Mind Stone was destroyed, so we could quickly reverse that once we got the Time Stone from that delusional man who calls himself a sorcerer.” 

“Then why lead me to how to destroy it in the first place?” Bruce asked, his voice shaking a bit. Tony really hoped they weren’t looking at a Code Green. That was the last thing they needed right now. His thoughts were feeling slow, unsteady. He tried to put them together into an argument, a cohesive thought, but it didn’t appear to be working. 

“I was playing the long game of course! That is how this is done. Little steps here and there that seem completely disparate, but all come together to obtain the trust of each and every one of you. Oh, when all those hands went up yesterday it took everything in me not to reveal myself then. I’m just so good that it really needs to be seen to be believed.” 

“Brother,” Thor interjected. 

Loki sighed dramatically. “Will it ever get through your thick skull that I am not your brother? I never was. If there was anything I appreciated about finding the truth of my origins is that I had no claim or bond to you, you imbecilic lout. The hardest part of this whole sham was pretending I didn’t want to cut your throat every time you opened your trap. It would have been so easy too. Thor, with those big, blue eyes just begging for my love. Sometimes I wonder if you would submit to your own death if I just promised I would love you for it.” 

Thor looked more shaken than Tony had ever seen him; Tony wasn’t any better. This couldn’t possibly be his Loki. Everything they had talked about, everything they had shared. There was no faking all of that. This had to be a trick. He was making Thanos think that he was on the titan’s side. This was all a ruse to get behind Thanos’s guard and stop him from the inside. 

“This isn’t you. Come on, Lokes. Give me some sign that the Loki I know is in there somewhere.” Any sign, Tony begged with his eyes as well as his words. Something that only Tony would know if he needed to. Some twitch, some reference. Anything. 

“The Loki you know? Stark, the Loki you know is as fictional as the brother Thor thought he had. That Loki doesn’t exist, has never existed. I have been Thanos’s since I left Asgard. Everything I have done has been to that end.” 

“To what end?” Natasha interjected. Loki didn’t even spare her a glance. He continued on Tony as if he had been the one to ask the question. 

“To get your trust, your adoration. It was absurdly easy too. Sex, of course, but really it was the heartfelt confessions that I think pushed it over the edge. You did so enjoy having proof of someone more broken than you and trust me, Stark, you are broken. A little affection and then I pulled away and you were eating out of the palm of my hand. Just the threat of leaving, of abandoning you like everyone else has, and you were mine; always desperately nosing for affection like a kicked puppy.” Tony cringed and wished that Loki had just gone ahead and stabbed him. That couldn’t possibly hurt this much. 

“That can’t be true. This isn’t you, Loki. You’re different, you’re better than this. I’ve seen it.” Tony pleaded with him. 

“I’m sorry, did you believe you had a magical healing cock? Don’t get me wrong, Stark, you’re good, but not that good. I mean, at least I can honestly say the sex was enjoyable even if the smothering neediness got to be a bit much.” Loki’s smirk faded away into a look of mocking contemplation as a delicious idea seemed to come to him. “Or did you believe that it was love that saved me? You thought you loved me and that would heal my villainy?” 

Tony thought he had learned to read Loki’s blank faces, he was dead wrong. He could see absolutely nothing in that hard face, those cold eyes. 

“I do love you,” Tony insisted, but his words were weak, pitiful to his own ears. Everyone else may as well have melted away for all he cared of what they thought of him. 

Loki laughed harshly, and it was so much worse than anger. There was absolutely no feeling behind it. It was so much different than the last time Tony had faced Loki on opposite sides. That Loki had been all feeling, rage and hate. Had that been a ruse as well? How far back did his performance go? 

“You loved the mischief, you loved the chaos so much that you completely disregarded that I am also the God of Lies. Or did you really believe that you had some kind of power over me to make me tell you anything that I did not wish to?” 

“No, you told me things, showed me things, you shared with no one else. You had no motivation for some of that. I know you wouldn’t tell everyone.” Tony didn’t know why he had to argue, but he did. 

“Oh, you mean like how I am a Frost Giant?” Loki asked and suddenly his skin was bleeding into blue. It was far quicker than when Tony’s device had drained all his magic, it was only a few short moments before Loki was glaring at him through blood red eyes. The crimson gaze and white swirling lines emphasizing the angles of Loki’s face made him look that much more feral, more viscous. Loki looked around at his audience, seemed to enjoy their rapt attention. “See the monster you brought into your home, the creature you thought you could tame.” 

He turned towards Thor then, gauging his brother’s reaction. “And you, brother?” He spat out the word ‘brother’ like a curse. Much like he had when he had been attacking Earth. 

“I knew you were a Jotun, Loki. It’s never made me love you any less.” Thor insisted, his face tense. 

“Yes, but seeing it. Seeing the face of your enemies on one you love as a brother? I can read your expressions so clearly. You are trying to mask your distaste. It’s so droll.” With that Loki dismissed Thor. 

The trickster then focused back on Tony, “Any more arguments now, Stark? I’m rather insulted that you can’t seem to grasp that I am just that good. That every show of vulnerability was a tool to draw you in, to get you to trust me above all others, to confer your trust to your fellows.” 

“But for what? You’ve given away the game. What have you accomplished?” Steve cut in, which really was an excellent point. 

Loki did look annoyed then. “Yes, well, Thanos did end this far quicker than I had planned. Still, I did manage to get Stark to destroy his anti-magic device.” Loki looked Tony up and down appraisingly, taking in his dazed, despairing expression with glee. “And I just destroyed Stark himself, bonus. And I did make sure no one knew the location of the Time Stone but me. And while it wasn’t the main goal, I just had such a lovely time with you all! Meet it is you set it down that one may smile and smile and be a villain.” 

Loki winked at Tony at that line, before waving brightly to them all. “Goodbye, Stark, farewell, Thor. I’ll see you all on the battlefield.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Actually, I'm just going to go hide for a while, excuse me...


	25. Screw Your Courage to the Sticking Place

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... that last chapter went over about as well as I expected. Again, most comments were either OMG how could you do this? or speculation as to what is going on, so I couldn't respond to many in fear of giving too much away, but comments heard. Y'all are super not happy about the implications of that last chapter. Let's see what the Avengers think.

“What the fuck just happened?” Valkyrie asked, breaking the several minutes of silence that hung in the air. 

From somewhere deep inside, some well of mania that Tony had forgotten existed, he managed a laugh at that question. His laughter carried on for far longer than reasonable before he broke off with a choked sound that definitely wasn’t a sob. Tony decided then that his legs really didn’t need to be putting in the effort to keep him standing and he dropped to the ground. Yes, this was better. He could work with this. 

Thor walked over and sat down heavily beside him. Thor’s hand enclosed his shoulder and it was frankly pathetic how comforting Tony found it to be. 

“That wasn’t Loki. We’ll figure this out and we’ll get him back.” Thor said seriously. Tony looked up at Thor and the god’s eyes were shining with unshed tears, but they were intent. 

“How can you be so sure?” Tony asked. While a large part of him was still screaming that he was missing something crucial, he suspected that it was just what he wanted to believe. 

“I’m not. I never can be with Loki. But I would rather rest that uncertainty on my brother’s side until proved differently. My brother would betray me, kill me even, but I don’t believe he would feel nothing.” Thor shrugged. “Search yourself, Stark. You’re a fine judge of character, surely Loki could not have fooled you that much for that long.” 

Tony laughed again. “Thor, buddy, you have no idea. This is what people do. They completely sideline me with betrayal and then they leave. Why should Loki be any different? It doesn't matter how much I wish...” 

“He seriously has you both that whipped? Come on! Thor is one thing, but Tony, really?” Sam shot him a disgusted look. “You let your libido get between you and protecting the world? Was he that good in bed that it was worth giving Thanos everything he needed?” 

Tony jumped up then and got into Sam’s face. “No, you don’t get to talk like that. Where were you? You haven’t had to deal with any of this shit. You weren’t there. Thanos has been inside my head for six years, since he sent an army to New York.” 

“Yeah, and it was Loki, that guy that just fucked us over, who led that army; you seem to be conveniently forgetting about that.” Clint put in, not able to keep out of anything. 

Tony huffed a half-laugh that didn’t want to come out, returning to the cool, comforting ground. “Fuck yeah, this is convenient.” He said putting his head in his hands. 

“Sam, Clint, that’s enough. This isn’t helping.” Steve said as he bent down next to Tony. “Tony, what did Loki mean with that last thing he said? About smiling and villains? Was it a code?” 

“Meet it is I set it down that one may smile and smile and be a villain.” Tony quoted. “It’s from Hamlet. It’s Loki’s favorite play. The main character has just found out that his uncle killed his father, and he wants to keep in mind that even though his uncle has been nothing but good to him, that doesn’t mean he’s not hiding a darker side.” 

And the connotations of that statement, well Tony was sick with it. But somehow all he could think of was the night he took Loki to see Hamlet. Tony had never been a huge Shakespeare fan himself; he could count on one hand the number of times he’d seen a live show, but when he saw that there was a production in New York, he couldn’t help surprising Loki. They’d gotten all dressed up and gone out. They’d gone to a great seafood place for dinner, then of course he got box seats. Tony couldn’t say he paid much attention to the play, it was much too fun to see the look on Loki’s face; her rapt attention. The way she mouthed some of the words with the characters. The wetness shining in her eyes as Hamlet found out that Ophelia had died, which of course she tried to hide from Tony. 

Due to the way his memory worked and Loki’s penchant for quoting lines, Tony could pretty much recite the majority of the play himself. If those words had been a sign of anything, it was that it really was Loki behind that cold exterior and those cruel words. Thor could say all he wanted about that not being his brother, but Tony had little doubt that was his boyfriend. Could all of that really have been a lie? If so, Loki was really that good. Deserved a fucking Oscar for that performance. 

Bruce walked over then, sitting on the ground and putting his arm around Tony. But when he spoke it was to the group at large. 

“What do we do now?” He asked. 

“Sit on our hands with our thumbs up our asses waiting for the world to end.” Rhodey offered. 

“Vision, is there any way you could determine the location of the Time Stone based on your connection with the Mind Stone?” Steve asked. “Or Bruce, you tracked the Tesseract, can we figure out the energy signature to track? Would this one give off gamma radiation too?” 

It was kinda sweet how Steve was concentrating on the problem, figuring there was always a solution. But they were fucked. It had never even occurred to Tony to ask Loki for the location of the Time Stone. Sure, he wouldn’t have gotten it, but maybe it would have given away something. 

“We don’t need any of that. I know where the Time Stone is.” Thor interrupted, causing everyone to immediately shut up. 

“But Loki said...” Natasha trailed off, realizing how ridiculous that statement was. “Really?” 

“Yes. When my brother and I were here looking for our Father, Dr. Strange captured Loki believing him to be a threat to your world.” Bucky snorted at that; Thor didn’t acknowledge. “He left a card with his address, so I could go collect him.” 

“Huh,” Tony said. That just didn’t make sense. He was processing the reasons Loki could possibly have for pretending he was the only one who knew Strange’s location, when what he had been missing this whole time was clobbering him over the head. 

“My anti-magic device!” Tony shouted, standing up. Bruce stood up with him, arms back around his shoulders. 

“Tony are you ok?” Bruce asked, obviously not getting it. 

“My anti-magic device,” Tony said again to an audience of blank stares. “Loki said that he got me to destroy it. He didn’t. It never even came up. Why would he lie about that?” 

No one seemed to have any clever ideas, which of course, if anyone was going to have one it would be Tony. What was Loki’s game? Why feed them information that was so easily determined to be false? 

“We’ll try to figure that out later, for now. We need to get to Strange’s and protect the Time Stone at all costs.” Steve said. Tony nodded, and Steve’s face went pained. “Not you, Tony. I think you and Thor should stay here in case Loki is there.” 

“Screw that!” Tony exploded. They were not keeping him out of this. This was so deeply personal Tony could never stay out of it. 

“I’m in agreement with Stark. And as I am the one who knows where Strange is, I will not be kept from the battle.” Steve sighed and opened his mouth to argue further but Thor held up a hand to stop him, his face thunderous. “You forget, Captain. I am no stranger to battling my brother despite the conflict in my heart. I will still fight, and I will still win.” 

“Fine,” Steve agreed before turning to Tony. “Tony, can you honestly say the same?” 

Tony jaw tensed. He desperately wanted to say that of course he could. But if he was being honest, there was no way he could fight Loki right now. Maybe eventually, once the shock and betrayal bled into anger, but not right now. His shoulders slumped, and it felt like the only thing holding him up was Bruce. 

“I’ll stay with him.” Bruce said. 

“We’ll probably want the Hulk on this one. If there was any truth in what Loki said about the Black Order, we’ll want everybody we can on it.” Natasha argued. 

“Yeah, the Hulk and I are kind of having a thing lately. I don’t know that it’s the best idea. Plus, with all Loki’s lying about this, maybe this is a ruse to get everyone to leave for some reason. Maybe this is about the anti-magic device. I think some of us should stay here just in case.” Bruce countered. 

“It’s a good plan; Rhodey, Clint, you stay with Tony and Bruce.” Steve ordered, back in his comfort zone. 

“Oh no, I am not missing my chance at putting an arrow through that asshole’s eye again.” Clint growled. 

“You’re easily the third most emotionally compromised by this right now, Clint. With all the uncertainty, it’s not a good idea. We need people here, as well.” 

Natasha pulled Clint to the side and they ducked their heads together, arguing quietly. Finally, they walked back, and Clint went to stand next to Bruce, his face dark with frustration. 

“Ok, Thor. Take us there.” Steve nodded to the remaining group who would be heading out to save Dr. Strange. Thor shrugged sympathetically to Tony before raising Stormbreaker and calling the bifrost to take them to wherever the sorcerer was. 

Once the rainbow waves of light dissipated and it was only the four of them left, Clint looked at the other three remaining Avengers, rolled his eyes and walked away. 

“Pretty sure I’m not getting a Christmas card from the Barton's again this year.” Tony said, a little surprised at the levity he could still manage. Both Rhodey and Bruce gave him half smiles. 

Tony sighed. “Ok, let me have it.” 

“Is that really what you need?” Bruce asked at the same time Rhodey said, “You’re an idiot.” They looked at each other perplexed. 

“I told you, I liked the guy too. We were all fooled one way or another.” Bruce said. 

“Is that all you got? Come on! I slept with the enemy. No! So much worse than that, I fell in love with the guy. Shit. He really did play me, didn’t he?” 

“I don’t know, Tony. I’m inclined to say yes, but there are definitely some unanswered questions.” Bruce hedged and just that little bit of uncertainty stoked that tiny flame of hope that Thor had ignited. 

Bruce and Rhodey made to head inside and Tony followed them dejectedly. Both men were disinclined to leaving him alone in his own room, but he finally convinced them that he was a grown-fucking-adult who could wallow alone in his own misery for a while. Of course, once they left Tony went scrabbling under the bed. It didn’t take him long to find the bottle of scotch, which he then proceeded to empty, taking long swigs trying to drown that little flame inside. 

After a few minutes the alcohol started humming through his system, calming his frayed nerves and allowing him to really concentrate on his thoughts. There were a few options here. The most likely and straightforward option was that Loki had conned them all, him and Thor in particular. He wasn’t fond of that one. There were holes, certainly, but they could totally be explained away by Loki still being crazy-pants. Then again, could he really pretend to not be crazy that often? It seemed unlikely. 

Another option was that this was all part of an elaborate plan by Loki to make Thanos think the god was on the titan’s side when he was actually working against the conqueror. While Tony liked the idea of Loki still technically being on their side, he wasn’t overly fond of this one either. Mostly because there was no plan that could possibly excuse the things Loki had said. No matter how true they were, a little voice murmured in his head. 

So, he was left with the most unlikely, but frankly preferred option, that Loki was somehow being controlled by Thanos. It seemed unlikely that without the Mind Stone that Thanos could have had that kind of control over him. It would have to be something outside the Mind Stone’s influence since there was no eyeshade change and hitting him in the head did nothing. But it was a big wide universe out there with tech and magic and things Tony hadn’t even dreamt of yet. There had to be more methods of mind control or manipulation than just the Mind Stone right? 

But somehow, that didn’t feel right either. It wasn’t just that the words sounded too much like Loki. If he was really being brainwashed or mind controlled, would he really act almost exactly the same? Then again, Tony didn’t know how long this could have been going on, maybe he’d never known the real Loki and the whole thing was organized from the beginning. It would still mean Loki was innocent, but it would also still mean that their relationship was a sham. And there were still those two obvious, plot-holey lies to consider. 

Tony was well and truly drunk when Clint walked into the room. The asshole didn’t even knock, just walked in, sat down on the bed and took a swig of scotch from the bottle in Tony’s hand. 

“I’ve killed men for less,” Tony growled. 

“Yeah, but you’re curious about what I’m going to say so you won't.” Clint responded and damn it if he wasn’t right. 

“I’m not mad at you, you know.” Clint said finally after a drawn-out length of silence. 

“You could have fooled me,” Tony looked at him sideways, which considering he was kinda doing the double vision wobbly thing made Tony a bit sick. 

“Don’t get me wrong, I have no idea what you saw in the guy and I’m going to have to drink a lot more alcohol to try to wipe out the mental picture of your ‘magical healing cock’, but I’m mad at the situation. And mostly, I’m mad at myself. You and Thor were obviously the main targets, Loki gave you his A-game and getting tricked by the Trickster is kind of an inevitability, but he got me too.” Clint scowled at his hands as if he was mad at them for not letting loose an arrow at the guy when he had a chance. 

“He said your talk last night seemed to go well,” Tony offered. 

“Yeah, I’m sure it went exactly as he planned. I walked in there just ready to tear into him, demand an apology, but he gave it before I could say boo. He just out of nowhere said how awful he felt about the mind control, about how he doesn’t really feel guilty about most of it, at the time he felt like he had no other choice and events played out mostly how it would have even if he had refused to do what Thanos ordered and been killed for his efforts. But he chose to use the Mind Stone that way and he enjoyed it, even after what the Other and Thanos had put him through and he couldn’t excuse that. It all felt so damn real. It seemed honest that he wouldn’t just blanket apologize for everything. I took that apology and the part of me that had been holding on to that anger withered to almost nothing. Then it was the next day and all this? Fuck, I just lost it.” 

“Yeah, I get that.” Tony said, and he did, usually. Currently he was pretty much just feeling numb. But he would happily take that over what he had been feeling earlier. 

“But, I gotta ask, Tony, can you do this?” 

“Do what?” 

Clint gave him a look like he was being intentionally dense. Tony wished he was, but sadly his brain was just that foggy at the moment. He shrugged pathetically. Clint shook his head. “Those guys are going to come back, likely having fought off Loki.” 

Tony tried to ignore that pang of hurt at the god’s name, to focus on Clint’s words. He was sure if he tried hard enough it would eventually work, you know, in several years or so. 

“Or maybe this was all a clever trap and he’ll be back here. Though frankly I think everyone is giving the guy way too much credit. He had some elaborate plans but they all seemed to end up with him getting captured or pummeled. I honestly don’t think he’s as smart as he thinks he is.” 

“He was crazy at the time,” Tony couldn’t help but interject. 

“See? That’s what I mean, right there. You are still playing into his story, Tony. You can’t believe a single thing he told you. I have to know that you can separate yourself from that; that when it comes down to it, you can fight him. We all need to know you have our backs, not his.” 

It didn’t seem like too much to ask. In fact, it was downright reasonable. So why couldn’t Tony just agree? Why couldn’t he just throw away those nagging doubts for the obvious side he should be on? Because he really did believe that Loki was as smart as he thought. This whole thing made the kind of sense that Loki was known for during the invasion, which Clint had appropriately quantified at none. There was just no way you could fake not being crazy, not for more than a year if Thor was anything to go by, and Tony thought he was. 

“I’m sorry, Clint, but you have to give me more than a few hours to process this. I think we’re missing something and I’m not going to commit to killing the bastard until I am damn sure.” Tony argued. 

“I just hope that we have the time for you to get your shit together. You figure out those feelings about your boy toy. It’s not like the universe is at stake or anything.” Clint coughed his disgust and left the room without another look at Tony. 

Tony sighed and lay back on his bed, staring at the unfathomable whiteness of his ceiling. Just last night he had been in this bed with a smiling god of mischief in his lap. He’d been wondering how he could be so lucky; he was thinking of how in love he was and now he couldn’t help but wonder how everything had gone so wrong.


	26. Hoist With His Own Petard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At long last we get a Loki POV to see if we can't answer a few questions, if you trust a word he says anymore that is...

Loki stared at the dark ceiling above him and marveled at how he had gotten here. 

His confrontation with Thor had gone much better than expected. With the three days required before he could pop back to Asgard, they both had calmed down enough that it was actually a mostly rational discussion. Thor had been, rather understandably, annoyed with Loki’s twisting of the vow, but not surprised. Thor knew him well enough to suspect that he hadn’t actually broken the vow but had gotten around it instead. 

As for the story behind saving Stark’s life, Thor had been dubious to say the least. His first question had been why Loki hadn’t told him about all this time travel nonsense before. Loki’s response had been a disbelieving glare. As if the phrase ‘time travel nonsense’ didn’t just say it all? There was enough back and forth that Loki had been ready to just stab the man and be done with the whole thing, but in the end Thor had relented. Which, of course he had because Loki was always right. Loki was loathe to admit it, but his best evidence came from Tony himself, the fact that he had spoken up for Loki, the fact that he had voluntarily spent time with the god that had once tried to take over his planet. Loki had been terrified that the next bit to come up would be Tony and his little make-out session on Asgard, because that was a conversation they really didn’t have time for that could mess up the entire plan, but either Thor had forgotten or really didn’t want to know because his brother never brought it up. Instead they had focused on planning for Thanos. 

As expected, Thor wanted to bring Valkyrie along. Loki had, unfortunately, no reasonable objections that he could offer as she was both a capable fighter and mostly level-headed. Also, if Loki knew Tony at all, which he definitely did, the man likely had enough alcohol at the compound to keep her happy for quite a while. Also, predictably, Heimdall was left in charge of New Asgard. He was truly the most responsible of all of them anyways and could still keep an eye out for Thanos as well as the burgeoning city. Loki was rather proud of himself that he remembered to ask Eir to take over his classes while he was gone. Look at him being responsible! He had no idea how long any of this would take. She had agreed readily and with that steady Asgardian courage wished him victorious battle or glorious death. Loki had been counting on the former. 

Loki groaned as he shifted his weight on the hard surface. The confrontation with the Avengers had gone just as well. It had been as if they were all following the script he had laid out. Each one speaking in turn, moving on cue. It had been beautiful. He had been tempted to take a bow when all those hands raised in support, such an obvious applause to his genius. 

Loki had shown with his planning how well he knew these people and he knew just as well what they thought of him now. A coward, certainly, a betrayer even. Thor would probably have doubts. Thor would do what he must, but he would likely wonder if there was some other plan, some scheme where Loki would swoop in again and save the day. Loki laughed bitterly, coughing as it caught in his throat. 

And Tony? What did his mortal think of him? Would he too agree with his comrades? That Loki had abandoned them to Thanos? Or would he have the same doubts as Thor? Would he hold out hope that Loki would return to him? It was painful to speculate, but was it really any more painful than the broken ribs currently catching painfully on his lungs with every breath? 

Loki shifted again on the bare rock beneath him; unfortunately, even this slight movement made things infinitely worse. One of his cracked ribs punctured his lung rather than just rubbing it uncomfortably. Loki’s vision went completely white with pain and he gasped, which only made the agony worse. Reflexively, he raised his right arm to his side, forgetting that his right shoulder had been dislocated. It was going to be a bitch to fix later once it had healed incorrectly. Loki scoffed, inwardly since he couldn’t spare a breath, at himself for imagining there would be a later that would involve healing or fixing. 

Loki knew he would be stuck in this pitiful cell on Thanos’s ship for as long as it amused the Titan, then he’d be dead. Loki suspected that if the Avengers were as formidable as he hoped they were, that Thanos’s amusement for him would be short-lived indeed. In fact, it was exactly what he was counting on. Maybe he was being sentimental, but he still believed that Thanos could be defeated, he just no longer held much hope that he would live to see it. 

It was all Bruce Banner’s fault. Loki actually chuckled at the thought, which was a terrible idea he realized as sparks shot through his chest. His big win had been followed by more plotting with Thor. Loki had the idea to spar in front of the Avengers to show what Loki could bring to combat. He hadn’t exactly done any real fighting the last time they had seen him. 

There had been a momentary snag when Barton had barreled into their room, eyes flashing. Thor, the oaf, had stood in front of Loki valiantly, but Loki had dismissed him for a private chat. He had known this was coming, but he had honestly expected it before the archer had voted in his favor. 

Barton had the dubious honor of being the person Loki had spent the most time with him during that period of unhinged rage. While Loki had used details from that period to sway Barton’s vote, he truly did have more reason than the rest to understand the effect Thanos had on him, he also had more reason than the rest to hate him. He had far more reason than the rest to disbelieve that Loki could be anything but a madman. So, Loki took a different approach with Barton than he usually went with, sincerity. It worked so well that Loki wondered why he didn’t use it more often, actually. 

So, Loki had been riding high; he teased Tony with his cat shape, pleased by the reaction; he had his mortal’s hands on him about to do some real celebrating when Banner just had to barge in and mess it all up. That’s not to say that Loki didn’t enjoy the banter, he really did, but he would have preferred stripping Tony and riding him until he begged for mercy far more. Plus, Loki couldn’t help but think that if he had been intertwined with his mortal when he had fallen asleep, rather than alone in a room shared with Thor snoring insensibly, Thanos couldn’t have gotten him. Loki still wasn’t sure how Thanos had stolen him, just plucked him sleeping in his bed and onto Thanos’s ship, farther from Earth than should have been possible. All Loki knew was that he had gone to sleep in the compound and woken up in a nightmare. 

He was determined to relegate the events of the last day to nightmares. If he didn’t think about them then he could pretend he wasn’t sure why he was bruised, broken and cut from head to toe. He wasn’t entirely sure why it felt like he had more broken bones than whole ones. But, of course, he had the memory inherent in a being meant to live for thousands of years; there wasn’t much he forgot. You will long for something as sweet as pain, the Other had said. Loki wasn’t quite there yet, but he suspected it wasn’t far behind. 

Loki shivered, and it wasn’t from the cold of the place. Though, his lack of clothing certainly didn’t make him any more comfortable. The field in the cell currently nullifying his magic crackled across his skin uncomfortably. It was nothing like the cuffs made in Asgard that just blocked his access to his magic. Though, he would take this over Tony’s device that had literally sucked the magic out of him. No, the field flowed around his skin finding uses of magic and nullifying them as soon as they manifested. If he tried to do no magic, he wouldn’t even notice the field was there. Unfortunately, his magic was determined to try to heal him, so the force was a constant prickle along his skin setting him further on edge. 

This bout of torture had been just as painful as he remembered. It had broken his spirit, caused him as much agony as he could imagine, but he was still Loki. Pain was undesirable, but it couldn’t make him talk. Before they had been looking for compliance and they had needed the Mind Stone for that. The torture had done nothing more than make him malleable. Now, with no Infinity Stone to help them, they were relying on torture alone. What was more, they were looking for information. 

So, Loki gave them words. In fact, he gave them Hamlet in fact. He kept this up until they were torturing him just to get him to shut up. It finally worked, of course, there’s only so much you can do when you’re coughing up your own lungs. So, when he could finally speak again, he took a different tack. Information, but not the kind they wanted. He mocked them with the destruction of the Mind Stone and the Space Stone. He spat the gathering of Earth’s heroes in their faces along with his own blood. So, they tried harder. Cut deeper. 

Finally, they got to the point where Loki had given up the show of resistance. He hurt so much, he was so tired that he hoped they might let up if they had ‘broken’ him. In his dejected state, he had admitted that Stark had made an anti-magic device. It had the potential to stop the Maw as it had Loki. It could possibly even have countered the Infinity Stones, at least for a time. Oh, but Loki was so regretful. You see, when Stark had seen how it had damaged Loki, the man had destroyed it. Stark had crushed their best chance against Thanos. 

It was risky, bringing up the anti-magic device at all, but Loki needed it to be believable; it needed to be information that he truly would be concerned about Thanos knowing. Loki fervently hoped that Stark had brought the device to the compound. Loki hadn’t even thought to mention it before he left, he had been so prepared to just forget the thing even existed if he had his choice. 

That wasn’t enough. So, next Loki bemoaned the fact that he had never informed any of the Avengers where the Time Stone was. This was mostly the truth. Sure, Thor had been to the Sanctum, but did he remember how to get here? Loki truly hoped so. If everything went as planned, Thanos would once again only send two of the Black Order against a very defended Dr. Strange. Unfortunately, in the process he had also revealed the location to Thanos himself. It was likely redundant as Loki knew Thanos could track the signature of the Infinity Stones, but there had been a chance that when Strange beefed up the protection magic of the sanctum per Loki’s advice that it would have blocked that. 

Loki was trying to come up with his next reveal, but he was finding that brainpower was harder and harder to come by. It had been about a day since he had been taken; he had gone far longer without food, but torture was quite hard on a body. His was working overtime trying to heal massive amounts of damage. Unfortunately, Loki knew from experience that even with a lack of food, his body could take far more abuse. 

Loki was distracted from his own misery by the sound of another’s. The female’s screams were loud, insistent and oddly familiar. She had a lower voice than average and though Loki was sure he hadn’t heard her scream before, he believed he had heard her speak. Curiosity won out over pain and Loki dragged himself to the side of his cell that was closest to his neighbor. He pressed up against the uneven bars, struggling to see between them. 

He hissed and pulled back when a chitauri came into view. He had no desire to draw their attention again. But the chitauri was leaving, which meant his neighbor was now alone. Loki peered blearily through the bars and could only see a long column of blue floating in the room. The blue along with the voice told him exactly who was in the cell. How had a daughter of Thanos sunk so far as to be in the same position Loki was? He couldn’t help but speak, ribs be damned. 

“Nebula, what a pleasure to see you again,” The oily tone he intended came out more like a rasp, but oh well. 

“Who are you?” Nebula barked. Loki couldn’t see her face, but he could hear the confusion in her tone. 

“You don’t remember me? I’m hurt. After all, we spent so much time together as I was being prepared for my invasion of Earth.” Prepared was a pretty euphemism. Loki would never forget how those blue lips had quirked in a small, pleased smile at his torture. How those hands twitched to take part in the bloodletting. 

“I thought you were dead.” 

“That was rather the point. No need to seek out and punish a dead guy.” 

“You could have won, then you wouldn’t have needed to be punished at all.” Loki practically growled at the light touch of laughter in her voice. 

“And what did you fail at that you are being punished as I am?” Loki asked instead and barked a laugh as she growled in frustration. 

“I failed in killing Thanos.” Nebula responded finally which effectively shut Loki up. 

One of Thanos’s children had tried to kill him? Interesting. He had suspected that there was no love lost between Nebula and her ‘Father’. The titan had never coddled and praised her like he had Gamora, but still, murder was very promising. 

“Well that’s a shame. You could have saved me a lot of trouble if you had succeeded.” 

“Nice try, coward. I’m sure Thanos found you running with your tail between your legs.” 

“So harsh! Now I know you believe you know me because we spent that quality time together, but maybe you’re mistaken.” Well not really, that was very much who he was, he was just currently fighting it. 

“Really? Do tell.” Nebula said in a flat, deadpan voice that made Loki grin. He respected cheek in the face of extreme pain. 

So, Loki told her. For his own distraction as much as hers, Loki told his story much as he had to so many at this point. It was starting to feel rehearsed, stale. He was tempted to embellish just for a little variety. So, instead of telling it as he had to the Avengers, he found himself actually including Tony in the story. He had no idea why, it would be just as easy to lie, but it made him happy to be able to think of the man, to speak of him. Norns knew that he could use every small trace of joy he could find in what were likely his last days, if not last hours, so he went with it. 

Nebula snorted and huffed derisive laughs often as Loki started talking, but as he continued through the story she quieted down. She had probably just gone to sleep, the exhaustion from the torture too much for her. It didn’t matter. Talking was enough of an escape for him, he didn’t need an audience. He ended his story with a sigh, with Thanos pulling him out of the Avengers compound. 

“Did you really bring the heroes of Earth together against Thanos?” Nebula asked then. Loki startled, surprised that she was still awake. 

“For all the good it will do me, yes. But I believe they have a chance.” 

“Your optimism is ridiculous. He’ll tear them apart.” 

“Maybe. But with two of the six Infinity Stones destroyed, he’ll have a much harder time of it.” Loki added. 

Nebula’s gasp made Loki smile. “You couldn’t have.” 

“Oh, I did.” Ok, so he left out part of the story for dramatic reveal; he was who he was and he had thought she was asleep at that point anyways. 

That opened the floodgates. Suddenly, Nebula was extremely chatty. Loki was a little glad that the cyborg couldn’t see his aghast face. Nebula revealed her hate for her adoptive father, which by itself wasn’t particularly surprising. Loki had guessed that her life in Thanos’ hands had been anything but easy. There were little rumblings of pity welling up in his gut, an uncommon feeling for him, at the details he received. Endless combat, punishments that led to her losing parts, finding them replaced by machines all in a cruel gesture of ‘improvement’. Loki shuddered. But she had been working against Thanos since the disaster that resulted from her being lent out to Ronan the Accuser. 

Her one bright spot and her darkest depth was Gamora. She was desperate for human connection, for a sister. But her sister was also their father’s favorite, the pinnacle of what a Child of Thanos should be. She could never match up, never beat her. Loki’s own troubled history with his brother was no secret to Nebula, given how often she had watched, and enjoyed, his torture. There was an uncomfortable silence as Loki imagined Nebula was pondering on their commonalities as he was. He was searching for a way to change the subject to something a bit more comfortable when Nebula spoke again. 

“Gamora is the only one who knows the location of the Soul Stone. I...” Nebula stuttered on the word, her breath hitching suddenly. “I couldn’t stop Thanos from learning that, but if she stays away with the Guardians... maybe the universe really does have a chance.” 

Loki smiled bitterly. “For whatever good it will do us.”


	27. By All the Vows that Ever Men Have Broke

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, looks like everyone went from being mad and confused, to mostly just confused. Excellent, I have you right where I want you.
> 
> However, I do want to clarify a point since I saw a few comments on it and maybe it will help relieve some confusion. When Loki's going through the series of events from his POV, he PLANS to spar with Thor, gets interupted by Clint and then introduces Tony to Lokitty and we have that whole scene. He goes back to his room and Thanos takes him while he was asleep. His torture happened all that night. Loki has no idea of any of the events that happened the next day. For the sake of clarity I will say that the conversation with Nebula takes place at about the same time as Tony's conversation with Clint. Loki has had hours to recover from his last bout of torture because they were busy with Nebula. 
> 
> Hope that helps!

Tony drank and dozed on and off for hours, he wasn’t sure how long. Tony didn’t hear the Quinjet land. No one called him to let him know that everyone was back. Yet somehow, still staring at the stupid white ceiling that really wasn’t uniformly white, there was an off-white stain just to the right of the wall that was driving him absolutely crazy, Tony knew that the person hovering in his doorway was Thor. He couldn’t quite see the god from the corner of his eye with his vision a sea of white, but he could feel him. 

“If you’re looking to have the shovel talk, it’s a bit late for that. I believe your brother has made things perfectly clear.” Tony said, not even looking over at him. 

“Shovel talk?” Thor asked, tone so baffled that Tony just had to see the look on his face. Nope, even Thor’s confused look can’t cheer him up. 

“It basically goes, ‘if you do anything to hurt my little bro, I’m going to kill you.’” 

“But how does the shovel come in?” Thor asked, and Tony actually snorted. Trust Thor to focus on that particular element. 

“Cause you bury people with shovels, Thor. Hence ‘shovel talk’.” Tony said exasperated. 

“Ah, I see. No, I’m not here to give you the shovel talk. Though, that would be pointless anyways as I’m sure Loki would kill you far quicker than I could, should you hurt him.” 

“Thanks Thor that’s really comforting.” Tony said deadpan. Thor still needed some work on the sarcasm, or he was just a nice guy, because he sat on the edge of Tony’s bed and placed a large hand comfortingly on Tony’s knee. “Honestly, you’re taking this whole me dating your brother thing better than I thought. Then again, it must seem like a pretty small detail now, comparatively.” 

“I knew you and Loki were involved before he said anything, Stark. I’m not as witless as my brother would have you think.” 

Tony looked at him full in the face then for the first time since Thor entered his room. The god looked far more tired than Tony had ever seen him. What was more, he looked old. Not in a wrinkled face, shaking limbs kind of way, but Tony could really see it in his eyes, like he had sometimes with Loki. There was this haunted, seen-too-much look in them that made Tony’s heart clench. However, there was also a decidedly guilty not-meeting-Tony's-eyes look to them that Tony focused on. 

“Really?” Tony asked skeptically. 

“Well,” Thor hedged looking away. “Since the first day we arrived at the compound, at least.” 

Tony actually laughed at that. “What gave us away? 

“During our talk to convince the other Avengers, you put your hand on his shoulder. No one else would have noticed as you would do that with anyone there, but...” 

“Loki doesn’t like people touching him.” Tony finished for him. Yeah, Tony hadn’t even thought about it at the time, he had gotten used to being able to do the casual touch thing with Loki by then. 

“He must truly care about you to respond so positively. I’ve never seen that with his prior lovers.” Thor said. 

“Cared, maybe, or just another lie.” Tony said correcting the tense, but hell if he knew the truth. He may never know the truth. 

“Once I saw that some inconsistencies fell into place.” Thor continued as if Tony hadn’t spoken. “You weren’t surprised at all by Loki’s female form, so you had to know it was him when you came to New Asgard. Loki's behavior then wouldn’t indicate anything except the desire to drive me crazy, but I don’t think you would be the same.” Tony blushed a little. He had kinda blocked that whole prank out of his memory. “Plus, from what Loki told me, he had visited you far too often for mere friendship. He had never shown that kind of interest in spending time with our friends before.” 

“Maybe because they were your friends, not his.” Tony blurted. Thor frowned at him and Tony continued. “Sorry, it kinda slipped out.” 

Thor smiled a bit at that. “It’s nice to hear someone speak in defense of my brother. I suppose you are probably right, but I can’t help but think that if there was distrust it was on both sides; that Loki never really gave them a chance. But, it’s too late to wonder now.” Thor looked down then and Tony remembered that these were Thor’s closest friends they were talking about and that they were all dead. 

If there was anything Tony Stark sucked at, it was emotional speeches. So, Tony changed the subject. “I think I got us off track here, what did you come to talk about?” 

Thor started out of his reverie and appeared to think on it for a moment before it came to him. “Yes, I came here to update you on the battle.” 

Shit, the battle. The battle for the Time Stone to determine if Thanos got that and therefore would have the means to get the Mind Stone back and wipe out half the universe. Could Tony have seriously forgotten all that, so he could have the relationship discussion with Thor? Clint was right, he was seriously screwed up. 

“Fuck, yes. What happened? Is everyone ok? Did Thanos get the Time Stone?” Tony rattled off all the questions he was dying to have answered but one. 

“Loki wasn’t there,” Thor answered Tony’s burning, unasked question first. 

“Great, so keeping me out of it was completely pointless.” Tony said, instead of the desperate ‘where is he?’ bouncing around in his head. 

“You agreed that it was best to stay behind.” 

“Shut up and let me be bitter, Thor.” Tony snapped, before rethinking it. “Well, don’t shut up, tell me what happened. But still let me be bitter.” 

It seemed that Thor was cutting Tony slack on account of shared emotional turmoil because instead of rising to the bait he just nodded and proceeded to tell Tony what had happened. Thor, of course, wasn’t a stick to the facts kind of guy. He had to go into every detail of the ‘glorious battle’ before Tony could find out who had won. Tony knew better than to try to interrupt him to get to the end. He’d tried that once long ago and frankly, Thor’s annoyed face was kind of scary. 

The main details were that Thanos had sent four of his ‘children’ to Strange’s sanctum, and what kind of ridiculous name for a place was ‘sanctum’ anyways? Tony already had some opinions of the pompous prick from Loki’s stories but everything he’d heard was just solidifying it. The Black Order, at least Tony guessed it was them from Thor’s descriptions, were definitely not expecting a large percentage of the Avengers to be between them and the Time Stone. 

“Once our foes had been defeated, we set back here with Strange and our new friend, I believe you know him, the Spider?” Thor finished and as soon as his statement clicked in Tony’s head he shot to his feet, incensed. 

“That irritating... I told him.... teenagers!” Tony spluttered nonsensically as he blew by Thor to go give the ‘little spider’ a talking to. 

Tony barreled through the hall and into a big open space that for lack of a better word would be called the foyer. Everyone was milling, checking out small wounds, comparing notes, the usual after battle stuff, plus two non-Avengers. The guy who must be the wizard, Dr. Strange was older than Tony pictured. With only Loki’s descriptors to go by, that made sense considering Loki always referred to him by some kind of deprecating name. But the guy had grey at his temples and was obviously trying to copy Tony’s facial hair. He was also dressed ridiculously in some old-style garb with a giant red cloak to top it off. But Tony wasn’t here for the wizard; no, his target was standing next to Dr. Strange, mask off and facing away from him. The boy looked unharmed but that was not going to dim Tony’s ire in the slightest. 

“What the hell did I tell you?” Tony shouted, pretty effectively startling everyone in the place. He got a lot of confused looks but only one guilty one. 

“To be fair, I didn’t know this had anything to do with Thanos until afterwards.” Peter argued. 

“And yet, you still came back here?” 

“He insisted! And who says no to Captain America?” Peter pointed over to Steve who looked suitably nervous, but Tony wasn’t going to touch that statement with a ten-foot pole. 

“Are you ok? Were you injured?” Tony asked. 

“No, I’m good. Thanks!” Peter smiled, obviously not recognizing where he was going with this. 

“Good, then you are going home right now.” Peter’s face fell, forming into something stubborn that Tony knew he was going to have a hard time with. 

“But I want to help! Loki said...” The kid wasn’t stupid; he could feel the change in the room at the name, see the wince Tony wasn’t quite able to hide. 

“Seriously? Stark, you let Loki around a kid?” Clint asked. 

“Tony!” Wanda breathed. 

Tony did his best to ignore the stares around him. “Yeah, well. Loki said a lot of things we aren’t going to be listening to.” 

“Oh,” Peter looked stricken. “You and he...?” 

“Well, now I know where I rank, the kid knew before me.” Rhodey interrupted. Tony frowned and looked over to see how hurt his friend actually was and was relieved to see a slight smile on his face. Good old Rhodey was trying to help with the levity. 

“It was mostly unintentional. Loki popped in when I was working with Peter and then Pete needed a rescue and Loki couldn’t be convinced not to help...” Tony said. 

“Loki couldn’t be convinced not to help?” Steve questioned. And he was right, that definitely didn’t fit with the Loki being evil picture. 

“He said he cared about Peter. Apparently, in that alternate timeline thingy, Peter had been there the whole time. Who knows what the true reason was. Hell, I guess we don’t even know if he did the whole time travel thing.” Tony sighed, already so tired of not being sure what the real story was. He wondered if he’d ever get closure on that. But his prior statement to the Avengers stood. Tony really believed that the story was too crazy to be a lie. But then, if he had been working for Thanos that was a lot of effort against him. It certainly led more credence to the brainwashing idea. 

“Oh, he did use the Time Stone.” Dr. Strange cut in, speaking for the first time. “I could tell time had been altered and I could sense the Stone’s energy on Loki.” 

“Well that’s one thing I guess he didn’t lie about.” Bruce said, looking slightly hopeful. Tony wasn’t about to comment on what that piece of data did to the flickering flame of hope that had been begging for fuel. 

“That doesn’t change anything.” Clint felt the need to add. Tony nodded. It really didn’t. Even a brainwashed Loki was one they would still have to worry about, still have to fight, but there was a chance that by the end of it he could have his lover back. 

“Not that I am trying to defend Loki or anything, but I should also point out that it was on his advice that I made adjustments to the sanctum’s defenses against Thanos.” Dr. Strange put in. 

“Yes, but that didn’t exactly stop him, did it?” Steve pointed out. 

“Not from attacking, no, but if you had noticed they weren’t able to enter the Sanctum itself.” 

“I can’t help but wonder why he didn’t bring you in on our meeting though, if you already knew about Thanos.” Steve continued. 

“I can’t believe I am saying these words, but I agreed with Loki,” Dr. Strange paused and his nose wrinkled as if the words tasted bad in his mouth, before continuing. “that protecting the Time Stone was more important than my joining the actual fight.” And yeah, that was pretty interesting actually. If he was continuing on with the brainwashing theory, which was feeling more and more likely, then it had happened sometime after that conversation most likely. 

“So, there is some reason why Loki wanted to keep you out of the fight. Good thing you are here then.” Natasha said. 

“I don’t get it. What happened to Loki?” Peter asked Tony, ignoring everyone else. 

“I’ll tell you, when we’re on our way to bring you back home.” Tony said. 

“Come on! I wasn’t removed from everything there; aliens still attacked, who knows what else will happen. I’m probably safer here than out there.” Spiderman all but whined. 

“Does Loki know where he lives?” Rhodey asked. 

“Shit! I hadn’t thought of that. Yeah, he took Peter back home.” The billionaire groaned. Tony didn’t really believe Loki would do anything to Peter, even if he was against them all. But then again there were a lot of things that Tony would have sworn Loki wouldn’t do and helping Thanos had been number one on the list. “I guess you’re staying with us, kid.” 

“You don’t seriously believe that Loki would hurt me, do you?” Peter asked. 

Tony desperately wanted to say no, but with all those eyes on him all he could manage was a weak shrug, pleading mutely to Peter to just drop it. But Peter was looking at him with those puppy dog eyes and that stubborn chin and he knew Peter wouldn’t take a shrug for an answer. 

“I don’t know, but he’s not with us, so you can take what you will from that. Look, I’ll show you to an extra room and we’ll talk about it.” 

“No, I saw him. He cares. I saw the way he looked at you, it was intense.” Despite his protest, Peter let himself be led by the arm, which was fortunate because Tony really didn’t need this conversation to be in front of other people. 

“He’s the God of Lies, kid,” was all Tony would say until they were separated from the judgmental stares of his fellow Avengers.


	28. We Know What We Are but Know Not What We May Be

Loki was humming a Metallica song since his crushed throat wasn’t exactly conducive to singing. Apparently, Thanos didn’t believe he had given up enough information, so they had re-started their interrogation. Loki didn’t want to bore his captors by playing the same games, so instead of more Shakespeare he had taken to singing songs from Tony’s favorite bands. Most of the songs didn’t work well acapella, but he figured Tony would forgive him. Once again, it made him think of his mortal and he wasn’t going to give that up. 

The song Loki was currently humming was Fade to Black, a slow, depressing song Tony would generally skip through when they were working in his lab, not looking to be ‘bummed out’, but Loki couldn’t deny the fit of the lyrics. ‘Life it seems will fade away, Drifting further every day, Getting lost within myself,’ Loki sighed, at least he had some treasured memories in his more recent past, even if they felt so far away right now. 

Loki was getting rather bored with the death and depression. Unfortunately, even in the best of circumstances, Nebula had never been particularly chatty. She had called out her gratitude when the Chitauri had started in on him again, since that meant they weren’t torturing her, but hadn’t made a peep since. He was actually a little surprised she hadn’t yelled at him for humming; she seemed like the type. 

Loki still wasn’t in any condition to see clearly what was going on in the adjoining cell, but he found himself scooting over to try to take a look anyways. The thought that his fellow prisoner should have said something by now stoked up an unwelcome spike of fear in his gut. It was ridiculous; he didn’t give a damn about Nebula. She was worse than he had ever been, even if it was rather understandable given her background. Sure, he had released death and destruction on several worlds, but he had never enjoyed it like she had; well, not as much anyways, he wasn’t a complete sadist. But still, once the thought had hit a nerve he had to check. 

Unfortunately, there wasn’t much he could tell. Nebula was still hanging in the air, body stretched unnaturally. He called out to her softly, throat barely able to make the sounds approaching her name, but she didn’t respond. Loki thought that he saw her eye flick to look at him but couldn’t be sure with his blurry vision. Loki heaved a sigh and then collapsed onto the ground again, panting from the petty exertion of dragging himself a few inches and lifting his head off the ground. 

Loki must have dozed, but he only figured that because he awoke to a strange, male voice. 

“I’m just saying, it’s traditional for dungeons to be in the basement. Which, yeah, I know it’s a spaceship and doesn’t have a basement, but they should at least be at the bottom.” The odd man was saying. 

“Will you be quiet?” A familiar female voice hissed. 

“Yeah, Quill, it’s called covert. You gotta be sneaky which means being something other than loud.” A grating voice cut in. 

“I’m quiet. I can be quiet, you know.” The first voice argued. “I can definitely be quieter than you.” This statement was met by several voices making the shushing sound. 

Now Loki was intrigued. The female voice was most definitely Gamora, Thanos’s favorite daughter. But based on the conversation it seemed that she was sneaking around the ship with at least two men. Loki knew Nebula had said she had left Thanos and was currently with a group called the Guardians, but it seemed too good to be true. Loki listened as the footsteps got louder and therefore closer. It sounded like at least five people, possibly more. 

“She’s here,” Gamora whispered and Loki heard the grating whine of the cell door next to his opening. 

“Nebula,” Gamora gasped and several sets of feet ran into the room. 

“Shit,” The man the other had called Quill intoned. “What are we supposed to do with this?” 

“I would suggest putting her back together.” A new, deeper male voice suggested. 

There were shuffling sounds and Loki spared the extreme effort to lift his head up to look into the adjoining cell. Two males, two females, an odd plant-like being and a raccoon were surrounding Nebula systematically putting her back together. The cyborg remained quiet, so Loki suspected her throat had been damaged in some way. He considered calling out to the group who was obviously trying to help his fellow prisoner, but Gamora’s presence gave him pause. He was willing to wait a little longer to see how this played out. 

“You have to get out of here, Thanos knows you have the location of the Soul Stone.” Nebula said finally, so they must have fixed the talking issue. This was promising. Unfortunately, Loki could not use his usual Silvertongue to turn these things to his advantage, so he’d have to improvise. Loki gave a loud cough and pathetic moan. 

“Who was that?” Loki was surprised to see that the grating voice belonged to the raccoon who swiftly turned around and aimed a very large weapon right at him. 

“Ugh, if he’s still alive we should probably just take him.” Nebula sighed. Loki coughed a small laugh at that. Typical. 

“Who is it?” Gamora asked. 

“You’re going to want to see this for yourself.” Loki could practically hear the smirk in Nebula’s voice. 

A little movement and suddenly his cell door opened. The motley crew of seven were looking down at him consideringly. Loki tried to smile but the right side of his face wasn’t quite following his wishes and the movement tweaked his broken nose, so it came out more like a half-hearted grimace. 

“Really, Nebula? Him?” Gamora sighed. 

“Who is this guy?” Quill asked. 

“A stooge of Thanos. Well, a failure of one.” Loki was too tired to be offended, much. 

“What sort of being is a ‘stooge’?” The large grey man with the deep voice asked. 

“A puppet.” The raccoon piped in. Loki could swear that now the grey man was looking for strings, which made him chuckle. 

“A lackey,” Quill clarified with a roll of his eyes. 

“Loki,” The god corrected, his rough voice sounded as painful as it felt. 

“He’s insane. The God of Lies and Chaos.” Gamora added. 

“Mostly just mischief, lately.” Loki managed, shooting Nebula a frustrated questioning look. It should have been obvious that he was having a hard time speaking for himself. 

“He says he’s reformed. More importantly he has set Earth’s mightiest heroes against Thanos and destroyed the Space and Mind stones.” 

“Earth’s mightiest heroes?” Quill scoffed. 

“Including my brother, King of Asgard and God of Thunder.” Loki defended before breaking out into hacking coughs. Nebula and Gamora gave each other looks of raised eyebrows. 

“You don’t look so impressive.” The grey guy cut in. 

“Yeah, you’re talking to the freaking Guardians of the Galaxy.” The raccoon added. Apparently, Loki had missed a few things going on outside of the Nine Realms. But whoever these Guardians were, he would take whoever he could get if it meant defeating Thanos and returning to Tony and his brother. 

“Asgardians are actually very powerful.” Gamora said. “You don’t want to know how much it took to make him look like this. And he’ll be mostly healed in a few hours.” She didn’t look happy about it, but Loki smiled and nodded anyways. 

“Uh, this is all very informative, but shouldn’t we be getting outta here?” The raccoon asked. Loki concurred. 

“Are we taking this clown?” Ok, Loki really did not like Quill. Visions of potential pranks danced in his head, but first he needed to get home. 

“Please, I can help defeat Thanos.” It killed Loki to plead, but he was willing to give up some dignity if it kept him alive. 

“Mantis, can you tell if he’s lying?” Gamora asked the other woman who hadn’t spoken once by this point. 

“I cannot tell if he is lying specifically, but I might be able to sense something from his emotions.” Mantis said timidly. At Gamora’s nod she shuffled forward. Loki instinctively pulled away and she backed off tentatively. He hated this but if it got him off the damn ship Loki would go a lot further than a touch with the woman if he had to. He nodded, and she put a small, light hand on his forehead. 

“He’s in great pain.” The woman started, her antennae glowing. Loki refrained from rolling his eyes, but just barely. That shouldn’t take any great power to determine. “He despairs of ever seeing the one he loves again.” Mantis continued, and Loki closed his eyes in embarrassment, struggling not to blush. “He worries for those he cares for if he is not there to help them.” 

Loki opened his eyes tentatively and regarded the appraising looks he was now getting from the Daughters of Thanos and the smug knowing look from Quill. 

“Good enough, we need to get out of here.” Gamora decided finally. The large grey man walked up to Loki and offered an arm. Loki took it and pulled himself up, only allowing a small grunt to come out. 

“I am Drax, the Destroyer,” the man said, eyebrows lifting in surprise at Loki’s grip. “You are strong for a skinny guy.” 

Loki wasn’t quite sure what to say to that, so he just nodded and allowed the guy to help him walk out of the cell. The god was trying not to get his hopes up. They weren’t off the ship yet. But he couldn’t stop that wave of relief that he was on his feet and out of that damn cell. Both Nebula and he slowed the group down substantially, stumbling through the corridors that seemed to go on endlessly. At each corner Loki’s heart started racing, certain that the Chitauri would be just on the other side waiting to stop them. Even with the raccoon scouting ahead, Loki couldn’t relax. 

It must have been too much for his healing body, because the next thing Loki knew he was waking up on a moving ship with a sentient-looking tree staring at him. Startled, Loki pulled back quickly. He then realized that he had been naked through this entire interaction. He groaned and pulled his spare armor onto him. 

“Man, you do heal quickly. And where the hell did that armor come from?” The raccoon asked him. 

“I am Groot.” The tree put in. 

Loki couldn’t help it, he just started laughing. And once he started, he couldn’t stop. IT just felt too good to laugh. The racoon was just starting to look like he was going to get someone else to settle down the crazy, laughing prisoner when Loki got a hold of himself. 

“What he said wasn’t THAT funny.” The racoon rolled his eyes. “Where did you learn to speak Groot anyways?” 

“Oh, I don’t.” Loki said. “But my brother is never going to let me live this down. I told him studying Groot as an elective would be pointless; when would he possibly meet a Groot to actually put it to use?” 

The racoon snorted a laugh. “And the clothes from out of nowhere?” 

“Magic,” Loki shrugged, not wanting to get into it. “Where are we?” 

“On our ship, headed to Earth.” The racoon supplied. 

“Yeah, Rocket.” Quill walked in. “We gotta get this guy back to his love.” He drew out the word ‘love’ mockingly which caused both Loki and Rocket to roll their eyes. 

“Yes, let’s focus on that and not on heading to Earth because that is where Thanos is trying to get the Infinity Stones.” Loki growled. 

“But what happened to being desperate to see your lover? Where is she anyways? Last I remember, Earth was a pretty big place.” 

“He,” Loki said, emphasizing the pronoun to Quill’s raised eyebrows, “is in Upstate New York and he could be fighting Thanos as we speak.” 

“Ah, so you’re the damsel in distress in the relationship, gotcha.” Quill responded, and Loki was sorely tempted to put a dagger in his gut. He strongly suspected the man wouldn’t be long missed. “I have no idea where Upstate New York is, but I’m guessing that’s New York-ish? As in the United States?” 

“Aren’t you from Earth?” Loki was generally good about being able to spot that, the man looked and spoke right for it. 

“Yeah, but I haven’t been back since I was like ten, and I wasn’t so good with maps.” 

“You’re still not,” Gamora put in, entering the room, then addressed Loki. “Can you give us basic coordinates?” 

Loki nodded and followed Gamora to the cockpit. “I understand the need for comic relief as much as the next guy, but it is really worth it to keep that fool around?” 

Gamora smiled just a little. It was amazing how it changed her face, softening despite the sharp features. Loki realized that he had never seen her smile before. She certainly hadn’t seemed to take any pleasure in anything Thanos had done. 

“He grows on you.” She said finally. 

“I’ll take your word for it; I don’t plan on staying long enough to discover that for myself.” Loki said, eyeing the large globe in front of them getting closer as they spoke. 

“Running?” Gamora asked and Loki sighed. Yes, that would be the expected outcome, wouldn’t it? Oh well, it was unlikely that he would be spending much time with this motley group, the truth shouldn’t hurt. 

“Every cell in my body is screaming at me to do so. It is my way.” Loki snorted miserably. “I know that is what they all believe of my disappearance. They think I’ve run and left them to deal with what is, at least partially, my mess. I can’t be sure that they will believe me when I tell them the truth. It’s amazing how willing others are to believe my lies, but how dubious they are of my truths.” 

“So, you’ll return to them. Try to earn their trust.” Gamora guessed. 

“I’ll never have their full trust and frankly, I would think less of them if I did.” Loki chuckled darkly. “But I’m tired of running.” 

“You aren’t the same person,” Gamora said thoughtfully and Loki groaned which turned her pensive expression to confused. 

“Everyone keeps saying that. I am the same person I always have been. I’m just slightly more focused.” Gamora shot him a disbelieving look. “And maybe a little less crazy.” 

Gamora looked back at the group that had gathered in the area outside the cockpit of the ship, fighting that smile that seemed to want to come to her face. There were several moments of silence before Gamora turned her attention back to Loki and noticed that he was still watching her. She schooled her face into indifferent lines again and he chuckled. You couldn’t fool a fooler, as Tony might say, though likely in more colorful language. They had both found something wonderful outside of the shadows of their past; Loki just hoped he hadn’t lost his again. 

Gamora’s eyes flicked from Loki’s face to the view coming in through the windows and her face fell. Loki felt a trickle of dread run down his neck. That face couldn’t be good. He turned, feeling like he was moving in slow motion, to see what had put that look on Gamora’s face. He really shouldn’t have looked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can I just say, I'm still super mad a Quill for Infinity War. Of course, that hasn't actually happened in this AU, so I shouldn't take it out on this Quill. But fortunately, I just know Loki would hate him so I still got to be mean to him anyways.
> 
> Also, mean cliff-hanger endings are like a drug, I swear. It's addicting.


	29. Let Slip the Dogs of War

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys! 500 kudos and I'm not even done!?! I'm honored, truly! Just a few more chapters left! 
> 
> You may have noticed the chapter count increase to 32. I know, it's like the third time I've done it, but the fic is done. I've finished writing and it's all polishing at this point so that chapter count is the final.

They were all listlessly having breakfast when it began. Tony was glaring at the cheerios floating along in milk as if they had personally offended him when the bowl started to shake. Everyone got up from the table and disbursed to their rooms to get their various gear without a single word; It was kind of creepy actually, the near silent, near synchronized movement. Tony had everything he needed with him, so he just initiated his suit and walked towards the foyer. Thor too had no need to go elsewhere for his gear, calling his axe and armor to him in a flash of lightning. 

Thor and Tony stood together, staring out the glass walls as two tall rectangular ships entered the atmosphere and started towards them. Wordlessly, they looked at one another, and Tony knew they were wondering the same thing. Would Loki be in one of these ships? Would he be leading these enemies against the Earth as he had six years ago? Tony sighed. It was game time. He had no more room to waffle. As much as he hoped this was all some elaborate scheme, he had to be prepared to act if it wasn’t. He needed to be prepared to fight Loki. Or he could just fight whatever ground troops Thanos sent their way and pretend that Loki never existed. That was sounding pretty good too. 

One by one Tony and Thor were joined by the other Avengers, filing in as they got everything together. They all watched mutely as more ships landed. 

“Someone got a plan here?” Sam asked finally. 

“We still don’t know what we’re up against.” Steve responded. It was true. Those ships could hold any number of anything. Tony knew that Thanos had worked with the Chitauri but for all he knew he had killed them all with that nuke. It was both a comforting and unpleasant feeling. There could be any kind of alien in there or any number of different ones. 

“Whatever we’re up against, Thanos cannot get the Time Stone.” Dr. Strange put in unhelpfully. 

“Yeah, no shit Sherlock.” Tony snapped at him, Strange just raised an eyebrow in reply, obviously wondering where Tony’s rage was coming from. 

“Strange, you should stay here with Bruce and Tony. They can help you protect the Time Stone.” Captain America ordered. 

“That’s not happening,” Strange said at the same time Tony said, “You are not benching me again.” 

They looked at one another in surprise for a moment, not anticipating being on the same side so quickly. 

“I can protect the Time Stone just fine myself and you definitely need me and my magic if we’re facing Loki.” Strange argued. 

“See? He doesn’t need me, but you definitely do.” Iron Man argued. 

“Tony, we talked about this.” Steve started. 

“You’re right, we did. I wasn’t ready then. I am now. I have to do this, I just can’t stand by...” Tony trailed off, not really sure how to complete that sentence. Peter walked over and put a hand on Tony’s shoulder. A teenager’s gesture should not have been as comforting as it was. Tony definitely appreciated it. But, that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to fight with him. 

“If you think Strange needs to stay here, I’m cool with that. I think he would be more useful keeping the Stone out of it. Bruce and Spiderman can stay with him.” Tony continued. 

“Mr. Stark!” Peter protested. 

“Uh, guys. You may want to fast forward through the arguing.” Barnes cut in, staring at the distance through the glass behind them. 

Everyone’s attention turned from the combative heroes to the view. It was bad. Tony was tempted to downplay it, in his own head if not out loud, but there was no denying it was trouble. There were thousands, maybe tens of thousands, too many aliens for his brain to really compute. These...soldiers? Beasts? Tony couldn’t quite tell their level of sentience from here, but whatever they were, they were gruesome. The Chitauri had been disconcerting, but they had been bi-pedal and relatively human shaped. These monsters ran on six legs. They had wide, toothy, slavering jaws and black rubbery looking skin. 

The room was silent, almost as if everyone was holding their breath. Well, Tony knew what he needed to do. 

“Someone’s scraping the bottom of the barrel. Did he commission these guys from H.R. Geiger? Lame.” Tony quipped. No one responded, Tony hadn’t really expected anyone to. There were only huffs of expelled air as several people released the breaths they had been holding. It was enough for him. 

“Strange, you stay here with Bruce and Peter. Watch the fight but only step in as a last resort.” Cap ordered. 

“But Loki..” Strange started, but Steve interrupted him. 

“Loki will likely come straight for you anyways. His priority will be getting the Stone for Thanos.” Steve said, which was an excellent point, but Tony half hoped Steve was wrong. Not just that he hoped there was still some twist he was missing but he wanted another chance to face the god. It would probably hurt, but he needed it. Should Tony not have argued to fight? Maybe he should volunteer to stick with Strange in case Cap was correct in his assessment. Tony wrestled with the decision briefly before deciding that there was no way he could stay out of this fight. If he saw Loki, he would make the decision then. He could fly after all. 

“Do we have a plan of attack?” Tony asked Steve, kind of enjoying not being the one in charge again. 

Steve gave him a small smile. “Sure. Attack.” 

Ok, that was seriously adorable. There was no one Tony loved hearing quoted more than himself. He nodded to Steve with a small smile before lowering his faceplate. They marched outside and those that could fly, Thor, Rhodey, Falcon, and Vision did so. Thor and Vision took off to the outskirts to take out the ships while the rest of them provided cover fire for the aliens headed to the terrestrial heroes. 

Tony and Rhodey bombed the hell out of the leading aliens and it looked like they took damage pretty easily. Unfortunately, they seemed to also take it in stride because as long as there was any bit of them left, they just kept going. This was definitely going to be a slog, especially since these guys just seemed to keep coming. That didn’t stop them from slowly creating a hill of bodies to slow down the oncoming beasts. 

But even with their numbers and resilience, they didn’t exactly require brains to fight. With Tony firing missiles and repulsors from up in the air, there was no real concern for his wellbeing, so maybe his attention wandered a bit. Tony found himself scanning the outlying trees that the demon dogs were bursting in through. Maybe looking for a flash of green leather or greenish-gold magic? He didn’t really have to admit to anything since there was no sign of the god. 

Unfortunately, Tony was also slightly distracted by staring into the forest. He never saw the spinning wheel of death coming. And seriously? Where in the hell had those come from? Was an endless number of expendable soldiers not enough for Thanos? The wheel knocked into him from behind and he fell into the surging sea of teeth, claws and rubbery skin. Fortunately, while he was gasping for air from the fall, unable to fight back, those teeth and claws couldn’t do shit to the armor. Most of the ugly fucks scrabbled at him for a while until they got bored and started to head for easier meat. So, Tony was only getting trampled at that point as the aliens raced over him. 

Tony managed to fight through the hell hounds and work himself to his feet. He tried his repulsors and got a few sparks before FRIDAY cheerfully informed him that they were off-line. Tony was seriously going to have to have a chat with her about the appropriate tone for certain situations. Ok, so flying was out for now. 

He did a quick scan of his position. He was on the edge of the woods, way too far from the other guys currently on foot. Plus, the hill of bodies he and Rhodey had made were kind of approaching mountain status at this point, blocking him from the group. He could see Rhodey, Falcon and Vision in the air but no Thor. Worry gripped him. Yeah, Thor was a god, but he could still get hurt, could still die. If he wasn’t in the air, that likely wasn’t good. Tony decided he was going to head in the direction of where the ships had landed, where he had last seen Thor. 

His hand repulsors were still working so he was able to pretty smoothly clear the way through the demon dogs. Tony continued this way, batting the aliens left and right was definitely satisfying his latent urges for violence. He had almost made it to the closest ship when he could swear he saw a red cape flap in the brief empty space in the sea of aliens. It looked almost like Thor was surrounded by a forcefield as none of the aliens could get anywhere near him, but Tony couldn’t get much more than glimpses as he fought the mutts off of him. 

The air beside Tony shimmered, drawing his attention away from the thunder god and towards the woods. He had a half second to hope for Loki before a very different, much larger shape coalesced beside him. Thanos stood on the edge of the treeline, regarding the fighting and death with a pleased expression. Tony’s stomach fell. He was facing a guy with four Infinity Stones and there was no backup to be seen. He was as good as dead. 

Thanos turned to him finally, unsurprised. The Titan had obviously known Tony was there but waited until he had done a sweep of the field to regard him. It was insulting, was what it was. 

“Tony Stark,” Thanos said, regarding him with a respectful nod. Which was super weird actually. Tony wondered what Loki had told Thanos about him. 

“You know me?” He asked, trying to draw out this conversation. He had many times kept himself alive with just his power to never shut up. Maybe it would help him now. 

“I do.” Thanos acknowledged. “You’re not the only one cursed with knowledge.” 

A vision of Loki’s face suddenly swam before Tony’s eyes. Those green eyes that sparkled when he smiled, going wide with fear, then hard and cold as he spat venom at his brother, his lover, his would-be allies, all for Thanos. 

“My only curse is you,” Tony said and launched at the Titan, repulsors firing. Thanos caught him and slammed him down into the ground, a purple glow surrounding Tony’s body as the Titan used the Power stone on him. It hurt. Like fall on your back breath knocked out of you times one hundred, hurt. 

Why hadn’t he grabbed the anti-magic device? For a genius he was a complete idiot, but let’s be honest, it never occurred to him that Thanos would just step right out into the battlefield. That’s what he had all these demon dogs for, right? To take them all out and distract them while he went for the Time Stone. Shit, where was Strange? Tony looked around him, but he couldn’t see the wizard anywhere. So, he was still in the compound. If Thanos was here and Strange was elsewhere, was Loki going after the wizard. Tony’s mind raced even as he gasped for breath. Thanos was apparently in no hurry because he just stared at Tony and waited for him to get up before moving forward. 

Ok, Tony just needed to hit harder. Fortunately, this suit had that covered. The nanotech was seamless and quick, forming huge weights along his hands so that when he thrust forward, dug into the ground and pounded into the titan, Thanos actually was knocked back. For like a second. Tony was frankly expecting a bit more of a reaction so when Thanos’s hand was close enough to his face to pull off his mask, Tony couldn’t react in time. 

But, ha! Nanotech! Quick as a flash, Tony had a new mask. Which was quite fortunate since Thanos’s fist wasn’t far behind. Tony fell to the ground, panting. Ok, this sucked and Thanos had barely even used his Infinity Stones yet. As if conjured by Tony’s thought, a purple ray came toward him from the Power Stone. Tony’s shield was enough to keep him from being pummeled into the ground again, but it pushed him back several feet, waves of heat washing over him. 

When the purple wave dissipated, Tony went for the weighted punch again, this time with the repulsors for some kick. He did nothing more than barely graze Thanos’s cheek. This dude was crazy sturdy, like Asgardian levels of sturdy. 

“All that for a drop of blood?” Thanos said, wiping the cut with his thumb and grinning at Tony. Oh no, cheeky too? That just wasn’t fair. 

As Tony reacted, or more appropriately, concentrated on the statement and didn’t react, Thanos pounded him into the ground. He punched and punched, his fist equivilent to freaking mack trucks and Tony could feel the suit crumpling around him. Thanos used the gauntlet and Tony went skidding across the ground, losing bits of suit as he went. On the ground, Tony looked frantically in every direction. He had twelve additional superheroes here, where the hell were they all? But Tony didn’t have time for wishing because Thanos was coming for him again. Tony got up to his feet, putting all of his power into the hand repulsors. With that kind of power sink, the nanobots didn’t have enough energy to regenerate so he was stuck with a less than perfect suit. If he could put even a dent in this eggplant’s ego, it would be worth it. 

Thanos used the Power Stone, not to attack but to prevent Tony’s repulsors from doing a damn thing. The titan moved forward until Tony was forced to keep the alien’s arm away from him with only his own strength, which, let’s be honest, wasn’t exactly up to snuff. Without the repulsors sapping the energy, Tony used the last of the power he could to form a sword. Sharp was good, he hadn’t tried sharp yet. Tony thrust the makeshift weapon forward towards Thanos’s belly. Thanos caught the sword easily and broke it off Tony’s hand. 

Tony had less than a second to mourn the loss of his weapon before he had it back again. The blade was thrust into his gut, the pain an agonizing mixture of pressure and sharpness. Tony had never been stabbed before, this was a new level of injury for him. It was as if there was so much of it, it was so pervasive, that his brain couldn’t process correctly, and he was almost functional. He was still standing, which was odd, but that may have had more to do with Thanos still holding the sword in him than his own power. 

Tony started stumbling backward, instinctively seeking to get as far away from the sharp thing as possible. Thanos came with him, unfortunately. But the Titan didn’t press his advantage, didn’t level a killing blow. If anything, the alien gently guided Tony to the ground. The grass was soft; that was kind of nice. Tony shook the thought out of his head and tried to concentrate on the asshole in front of him, giving him an oddly soft smile. 

“You have my respect, Stark.” Thanos practically whispered. “When I’m done half of humanity will still be alive.” 

Thanos pulled away from him then, and Tony struggled to maintain his upright position. He coughed and tasted sharp, metallic blood coming up. That was never a good sign. He was still oddly detached from it all. He couldn’t react, he could barely keep his eyes up when he saw Thanos holding up his arm, readying the glove for what had to be a killing blow. 

“I hope they remember you,” Thanos said. 

Tony shut his eyes tight, bracing for the impact. Nothing happened. 

After a moment, Tony slit open his eyes, seeing only bright sun. Maybe he was dead. Maybe he was removed enough from the pain that he just died without all the fuss and was now in some form of afterlife. That it itself was a bit of a surprise. He was never one for God or religion, as ironic as that was. Maybe this was Vallhalla? With Thor and Loki being actual living beings, it wasn’t that farfetched, right? And he had died pretty well, taking on a guy much stronger and more powerful than himself. Sure, he could totally do Vallhalla with the mead and the Valkryries and the feasts. 

Tony opened his eyes all the way; nope, still on the battlefield. That was relatively disappointing. No Viking babes for him. But there was no Thanos either, which was definitely not disappointing. Tony was torn. Tony was also confused. He coughed again, wincing as he brought his hand up to his mouth to wipe away the fresh blood. Tony was still dying. He was desperately trying to care, but he was just so tired. The scenery started getting hazy; grey spots started to mar his sight at the corners, the first step to going dark. 

The last thing Tony saw was a flash of gold; he had a moment to think, “The horns are back,” before his vision went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a disease, really...
> 
> Also, I know. I totally cheated and used a good chunk of IW with Thanos and Tony's fight. All I can say was it was either this or never finish this freaking story because I HATE writing fight scenes.


	30. Some Have Greatness Thrust Upon Them

It was a cliché, he knew, but time stopped when Loki saw Tony Stark fall. No, that wasn’t quite right. Time slowed until the blade going into his lover’s belly, the steps backward seemed to take hours. Then, when Loki believed that he might just have contemplated the event enough to accept that it might be true, time reversed; his brain fighting to grasp how they possibly could have gotten to this point, and suddenly he was back on the Guardians’ ship staring at Thanos’s Q-ship launching pods full of warriors against the Avengers. 

Gamora rushed to the control panel and pulled up the coordinates Loki had plugged in on the viewscreen. Two carrier pods had already landed, and masses of creatures were piling out and headed right to the compound. 

“I have to go, now.” Loki told Gamora. 

“We can’t go any faster; it will only be fifteen minutes and we’ll be there.” Gamora argued. 

“No, I can’t wait for that. Please come, help fight, but I’m going now.” Before Gamora could argue with him, Loki teleported down to the ground. 

He thought he had teleported to Tony’s location, but he couldn’t see the man anywhere around. The ships and the distance must have caused some slight interference. Still, he had to be close. As Loki surveyed the number of opponents around him, he called his armor and helm to him as well as his knives. 

“Brother,” Thor’s voice rumbled behind him and Loki turned. Thor’s face was dark, uncertain but not quite angry. It was actually a bit better than Loki could have hoped for considering. 

“Thor,” Loki nodded before taking out a dozen of the six-legged creatures coming towards them with a few handfuls of green flame. 

“You’re with us?” Thor asked. 

Loki looked at the smoking ashes of what used to be their attackers and back at Thor a few times before saying, “Obviously.” Seriously, sure Thor may have thought he had taken off but surely the fact that he was back made everything perfectly clear. 

“We will have words later,” Thor warned, a dark look in his eye. Yes, Loki supposed that was to be expected. 

“Yes, yes. Words later, fighting now.” Loki prodded, then froze and laughed at himself. “I can’t believe I just said that.” 

"I knew you wouldn’t abandon us.” Thor said. “I have a plan, Brother.” 

Loki couldn’t help it, he grinned. “If anything you are about to say involves the words ‘get’ or ‘help’, I’m stabbing you.” 

Thor laughed, seeming surprised at himself for doing so. Perhaps the fact that Loki was smiling like an idiot tempered his threat just a bit. But that’s when everything stopped. Loki looked behind Thor and saw the unmistakable outline of Thanos. That would have been enough to make his stomach churn, but Thanos was obviously fighting an opponent. When the Titan moved enough that the opponent was clear, Loki’s breath caught. It was Tony. Loki cursed his infuriatingly stubborn mortal who actually thought going hand to hand against Thanos would be anything but folly. Before Loki could take another step, Thanos was breaking off a piece of Tony’s suit and shoving it through the hero’s gut. 

Time righted itself again and Iron Man was still in peril. Thinking quickly, Loki conjured an illusion of Dr. Strange and set it against Thanos before having it fly away. Thanos, without the Space Stone, was unable to use any sort of portal travel and instead melted into thin air. Loki wasn’t sure how, but he suspected the Reality Stone. It didn’t matter either way, what was important was that Thanos was away from his mortal. Loki teleported immediately to Tony’s side and cast a shield around them to protect against their continued canine-esque attackers. 

Tony was blinking tired eyes up at him, but was still conscious, for now. There was a spurt of blood coming out of his mouth and Loki didn’t even want to look at his torso. Instead he focused on those warm, brown eyes. Loki tried to give Tony a smile, but suspected it came out forced. 

“Hey,” Tony said, slurring the word a bit as if he had too much alcohol. “The horns are back.” 

It was then that Tony passed out. Loki huffed a small laugh. It was probably for the best that Tony was unconscious. Any healing he attempted would take a lot of energy and would likely be painful. Loki knew that the next step was to survey the damage, however reluctant he was to consider it. So, Loki looked to Tony’s stomach and the blood currently weeping out of the wound. He blanched. He’d seen stomach wounds before, they were never pretty with the number of internal organs that could be shredded, but was it just his feelings for the mortal that made this seem worse than usual? 

Loki sent trails of green-gold magic through Tony’s body tallying the damage. If his stomach could have sunk lower, it would have. It was a weight of Uru in his gut, anchoring him to his moment, this place. This was so far beyond anything he had ever done. A broken bone was barely a splinter compared to the hole that ran through Tony’s insides. Tony could die. Loki’s heart fluttered frantically. Loki had barely allowed himself to consider the fact that Tony would die long before him; he couldn’t cope with it this soon. He couldn’t die now. 

Loki couldn’t do this, Loki couldn’t heal this. He would fail, and Tony would die. The truth shuddered through him. Loki debated teleporting to New Asgard. Steal Eir away so that a real expert could make sure that he didn’t lose his mortal so soon, but he couldn’t risk that much time. He couldn’t just leave Tony alone. 

So, it needed to be him. This was what he had worked on; this was why he had put himself through hours of study and frustration, so that he could save the people he loved. And there was no one he loved more than Tony Stark. 

“I love you, you reckless, ridiculous, infuriating man.” Loki muttered aloud, as green-gold magic started trickling again from his fingers. “Please don’t die.” 

Between the healing and the shield, Loki’s already low magic stores were quickly being used up. His stomach roiled at the thought that there may not be enough to completely heal Tony. Loki drove that thought from his mind, concentrating on the magic flowing through the hero’s body. Slowly, Loki could feel the tissue joining. Loki squashed the hope that flared up at the progress. All of his focus needed to be on the tissues and muscles; there was no room for hope, no room for doubt. Fortunately, Loki had spent so much time helping Gunnar and Runa with their meditations that he was far better at it now than he ever had been. Focus was something he could do. 

After what felt like an eternity, Loki let out a gasp as the gash in Tony’s stomach finally sealed shut, not even leaving a scar to show that he had been injured. The mortal started breathing easier, deeper as Loki in turn gasped for breath. The sorcerer was developing a headache from the effort of continuing to maintain the shield, but he wasn’t letting anything come near Tony until he was conscious again. 

After several long moments, Stark started moving, indicating that he was waking up. Loki felt a rush of relief and pride. He had actually done it! He had managed to heal Tony. It was a heady feeling, better than any other magic he had ever accomplished. More important, certainly, than any other thing he had done. Loki wasn’t sure he had ever done something that could so unequivocally be deemed as good, despite how selfish his intentions. 

Tony finally opened his eyes and blinked at Loki in confusion. He got up, without the slightest hint of pain on his face. At most he looked a bit weary, understandable as a portion of the energy for healing must come from the person being healed. Loki didn’t even fight the huge grin he had on his face. Tony would be frustrated with him initially, but once Loki explained why he had been gone, that he hadn’t left voluntarily everything would be set right and hopefully, with the help of the Guardians they would be one step closer to defeating Thanos. 

Not unexpectedly, Tony’s confusion turned dark, but Loki couldn’t seem to stop smiling. Let his mortal be as mad as he’d like, he was alive. 

“Tony,” He started before he was stopped by a fist to his nose. With the drain on his magic and his body not yet healed, it hurt far more than any blow from a mortal should have. Loki blinked for several seconds processing this order of events that just didn’t make sense. Loki waited for the stars to clear his vision, before shaking his head. “What was that for? I just healed you!” 

“I know, asshole! Which means that was all a fucking trick!” Tony yelled, his eyes blazing. Frankly, Loki was a little annoyed at the overreaction and his annoyance was starting to push aside his relief. 

“I understand that you are angry at me for leaving, but...” 

“Leaving? You can’t possibly think I’m pissed at you for that and not for what you said!” Tony interrupted him. “Unless you are way less intelligent then I gave you credit for. That’s it, isn’t it? You’re a moron, aren’t you?” 

“What I said?” Loki wondered aloud; what had he said before leaving to put Tony in this kind of rage? They had been joking with Banner and then he left at Banner’s request. Something wasn’t right, and the shield was sapping his energy reserves too quickly for them to work it out there. Loki placed a hand on Tony’s shoulder. The stubborn man tried to pull away, but Loki gripped him tight before teleporting them both into the compound and away from the danger. 

As soon as he could tell they were inside, Loki dropped his hand from Tony’s shoulder and bowed his head, gasping for breath. It felt like he had just run miles without rest. This was not good. When he could breathe somewhat normally again, Loki looked up. They weren’t alone. Banner, Peter and Strange were standing next to him, the latter two in fighting positions. Loki turned to Tony, who had his hand lifted, pointing a repulsor directly at his face. Loki’s hackles started to rise. This was far worse than he had anticipated. 

“I am suspecting that far more happened than my just going missing.” Loki croaked, raising his hands in a gesture of surrender. 

Tony’s face crumpled in a flash of uncertainty before hardening again in resolve. 

“No shit, god of dicks, start talking.” Tony said. Loki recoiled as if Tony had punched him again. He hadn’t faced a Stark this angry with him since... actually, Loki didn’t believe Tony had been this angry with him. Even when they first met in his lab during this timeline, Tony’s rage wasn’t this personal. What had happened? 

“Tony, I swear to you, I didn’t go willingly. I had just left your room when Bruce asked me to. I went back to Thor’s room and fell asleep. The next thing I knew I was waking up on Thanos’s ship. I’ve been there for days. I was rescued by a group of aliens called the Guardians of the Galaxy, which is even more absurd of a group name than the Avengers if that makes you feel any better.” Seeing the less than amused look on his audiences faces, Loki just let that one go and continued on. “They should be here shortly; they can verify my story if you don’t believe me.” 

Loki couldn’t help how his face and voice fell at that. Tony had trusted him for so long now and it was all gone at Thanos’s whim. Loki needed him dead or the titan would continue to ruin his life. 

“Why aren’t they here with you now?” Bruce asked. 

“When I saw the carrier ships landing and the aliens streaming out, I couldn’t wait for the ship to land; I teleported to Stark.” 

“Just after your boss impaled me, huh? Convenient timing.” Tony sneered. 

Loki fought the knot that had risen in his throat at the ire in Tony’s tone. “My boss? Thanos?” 

“Oh, I’m sorry. I meant your master.” 

Loki shuddered at the word. It was what many of Thanos’s tools called him. A title that Thanos had tried to impose upon Loki, without much luck. “I don’t understand how you could think that. Everything I have done since I was imprisoned on Asgard has been either to flee or stop him.” Loki looked uncomfortably at the three people standing next to him and Tony and leaned down and said more softly, “You know what he did to me.” 

Tony’s hard expression softened, uncertainty coming through. “I want to believe you, Loki, but the things you said.” 

“What did I say?” Loki burst out in frustration. “I didn’t say anything! I was taken! I have no idea what you are talking about.” 

“I saw you in your room then next morning, Loki.” Tony insisted. “You came to breakfast, you sparred with Thor and then Thanos arrived. Are you telling me you weren’t here for any of that?” 

A dark suspicion was niggling into Loki’s brain. He was starting to see what may have happened; it would mean Thanos could have done absolutely anything. What had Thanos said that could have made Tony act this way towards him? 

“I wasn’t.” Loki said. “I believe Thanos must have used the Reality Stone. Made a fake Loki to replace me when I was taken. It was a fake who said whatever it was that hurt you, not me.” 

“Ha! I knew there must be something else going on.” Peter piped in, practically vibrating with excitement. 

“That doesn’t explain how Thanos had the Tesseract.” Bruce cut in. 

“He had the Space Stone?” Loki spluttered. It was impossible, right? Even if the Stone hadn’t been completely destroyed with Asgard, piecing it together completely would have been practically impossible as the shards separated in Space. You would have had to know exactly when and where they had blown out from and still it would likely take months, even years to combine that many pieces. “Wait, did you ever see him using it? Disappearing through a blue portal?” 

“No,” Tony said hesitantly. “He mostly faded into the background, kind of shimmery.” 

“Again, it must have been the Reality Stone; he could mimic the look of having the Space Stone, but he couldn’t mimic the actual power of one.” 

“That would make sense,” Dr. Strange allowed. 

“What stones did he appear to have?” Loki asked. 

“The Power Stone, Reality Stone, Space Stone and Soul Stone.” Dr. Strange answered. 

“No, he doesn’t have the Soul Stone; he had only just learned that Gamora has the location and he hasn’t gotten to her, yet. It has to be the Reality Stone. It’s the only logical conclusion.” 

“Sure, that explains one thing. But there was no way that Thanos could have all that information about you, about us. He knew about the destruction of the Mind Stone. He knew about my anti-magic weapon. He knew about where the Time Stone was. How do you explain all that?” 

Loki cringed a bit. “He knew those things because I told him. He was torturing me for information. I taunted him about the Mind and Space Stones, but I gave him false information about the rest. I told him your anti-magic device had been destroyed and that none of you knew where the Time Stone was, even though Thor had been to the Sanctum.” 

Tony and Bruce shared a look then that made Loki’s heart clench with hope. He had filled in some missing piece to the puzzle. 

“But what about Hamlet?” Tony asked. Loki shot him a confused look. “One may smile and smile and be a villain? That’s what ‘Fake Loki’ said just before he left. That’s some damn specific information for Thanos to just pull out of his ass.” 

Loki could tell from Tony’s stubborn chin that the mortal thought that this would stump the god. Loki laughed; it wasn’t a nice laugh. “I really did give Thanos everything he needed to mimic and destroy me, didn’t I? When Thanos first started torturing me for information, I didn’t just automatically start talking; he’d never trust anything I said. He knew what my breaking point was, and I needed to let him get me there. So, initially, to annoy my torturers I just started reciting Shakespeare until they made sure I shut up.” 

“What could possibly make you shut up?” Dr. Strange snorted. 

“Thanos could and rather painfully.” Loki shuddered again before pressing the memory down far enough from the surface. He didn’t need the distraction of touching on those thoughts right now. 

Loki wrapped his arms around himself, suddenly feeling cold when he felt two more arms wrap around him, warmth enveloping him. 

“I knew it! I so wanted to believe that it wasn’t you, but I almost didn’t let myself, but I knew it. I’m sorry; I’m so sorry, Lokes.” Tony had his arms wrapped around Loki almost painfully hard, just babbling a mixture of apologies and affirmations. Even with the constriction, Loki found himself suddenly able to breathe easier. Tony believed him; Tony had wanted to believe in him all along, and he had had some pretty damning evidence to the contrary. Tony’s belief was a warmth inside him that made him want to cry or giggle or something equally ridiculous. 

Loki tensed when he remembered that he was being embraced in front of an audience. Sure, Peter knew about their relationship, and what was the little spider doing here anyways? Tony couldn’t have possibly changed his mind about that? 

“Tony?” Loki questioned softly. The mortal pulled back for a moment, but just enough so that he could kiss Loki. This was no quick peck on the lips. Tony raised his hands so that his right was cupping the back of Loki’s head and the left was caressing his jaw. Loki was in shock and horribly torn. In surprise he leaned into the kiss, enjoying the heat and feeling of it. But all too quickly the eyes on him became too heavy and he tensed, pulling back. “Tony, I believe you’ve given our little secret away.” 

Loki dared to briefly made eye contact with Banner and Strange. It was enough to realize that there was absolutely no surprise in their eyes. He looked over to Tony then, who was blushing a bit, looking uncomfortable. Oh Norns, no. 

“So, yeah. Probably don’t want to get into the details just now, but Fake Loki kinda told everyone about us.” Tony said reluctantly. 

“Of course, because this whole thing couldn’t possibly get any worse.” Loki groaned. The silence after that statement was so heavy that Loki was surprised he couldn’t hear crickets. He looked up at Tony and he was looking even more uncomfortable, if possible. Loki’s stomach dropped further. “What else did he say?” 

“We don’t need to get into everything he said, but...” 

“Just tell me, Stark.” Loki growled. 

“Oh, back to Stark now, huh?” Loki wasn’t the only one glaring at Tony now. “Ok, alright, yes he said a lot of really bad stuff. But I know that wasn’t you. Thor will know that wasn’t you. It’s fine. But... he also showed your Frost Giant shape.” 

Yes, as it turned out, everything could always get worse. Loki should have learned that lesson by now. Suddenly, he was longing for something as sweet as pain. Pain he could deal with, this? 

“Thor?” Loki asked, and Tony nodded. 

“Loki, Thor doesn’t care, no one does...” Tony started. 

“I do,” Loki said and got to his feet with a groan. His mortal was on him in seconds. 

“Are you ok? Shit, you were with Thanos, of course you aren’t. Is there anything I can do?” Tony asked. 

“We can defeat Thanos; then it won't be an issue anymore.” Loki said with a small smile, running a soothing hand over Tony’s shoulder. 

“Ok, yeah, totally on board with that plan!” Tony agreed. “What is the plan?” 

“Please tell me you brought your anti-magic device.” Loki said.


	31. A Fool Thinks Himself to be Wise but a Wise Man Knows Himself to be a Fool

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next two chapters are crazy short, but I wanted them to be their own chapters from a structural standpoint, so I'm going to not be mean for once and post them together. Enjoy!

So maybe Tony was an idiot. The truth was, for all his self-proclaimed genius, Tony bought Loki’s story hook, line and sinker. But Tony just couldn’t convince himself that it was a trick. Loki healed him for one. Then his story filled in all those gaps that just didn’t make sense. But he wasn’t so much of an idiot that he wasn’t hesitant to believe something that he wanted to be true so damn much. 

When Tony got into the lab, he walked right over to his anti-magic device, checking it over to make sure everything was intact. Bruce was not far behind him. 

“Tony,” 

“I know,” 

“But he...” 

“Yep,” 

“And still you...?” 

“Definitely. Bruce, I know. It’s crazy but I trust him.” Tony sighed. “He healed me. I’m not sure I would have died, but I was in seriously bad shape and he used up his dwindling magic stores to heal me. Why would he do that?” 

“Thanos...” 

“Thanos wanted to kill me. If Loki was working for him, why would he save my life?” 

“Maybe it’s to trick us again? Get Loki back into the fold?” Bruce offered. 

“If Thanos really wanted to do that, why did he give away the trick in the first place? We would have had no idea if he hadn’t flat out told us.” 

“Yeah, I guess. But...” 

“But what? I’m alive. His story clears up all the plot holes. It just makes sense.” 

“Tony, I want to believe it too. I mostly do. But a good liar would have a story that seemed to fit everything into place. Loki is a very good liar who had days to come up with his story.” 

“Just because he can lie doesn’t mean that he isn’t telling the truth. I’m a pretty damn good liar myself and I tell the truth quite a bit.” Tony fought stubbornly. “Look, think about it this way. If Loki is on our side, yay, we have an ally back. If he’s not, he thinks he’s fooled us, and we have him close, we can keep an eye on him. And If he does anything,” Tony held up the anti-magic device with a grin. “I zap him with this. At least I know this will stop him cold.” 

“But he could have fooled you about that working too, Tony. He certainly seemed ok with you grabbing it.” 

“That’s because he’s on our side. Trust me, you can’t fake that reaction he had when he got hit with this the first time. You just can’t.” Tony started walking out of the lab and Bruce followed along. 

“If you’re wrong?” Bruce asked. 

Tony suppressed a shudder. If he was wrong? If he had to come back down from this soaring high that he was now on? He’d likely plunge even lower than before. He wasn’t sure he could recover from that. 

“Then you get to do your favorite thing,” Tony said, giving Bruce his fakest press grin. “You get to say ‘I told you so’” 

Bruce and Tony entered the kitchen where Loki was currently stuffing his face in an attempt to juice up the batteries a bit. Dr. Strange was hovering just at his elbow, obviously prepared for a fight. Peter was just sitting at the table too, nibbling on a bit of toast and looking pleased with himself. 

Tony put the anti-magic device, and really he needed to come up with a better name than that for it, next to Loki on the table. It took Loki a couple seconds before he noticed the weapon, but when he did, he actively recoiled from it. Tony shot Bruce a look that said ‘See?’, Bruce just rolled his eyes. 

“Ok, what’s the plan, magic man?” Tony asked. Loki shot him a disgruntled look and rolled his eyes. Really, he spent way too much time with people who rolled their eyes at him. He needed more deference, more awe in his life. 

“The plan is very simple. This device should sap the energy out of the Infinity Stones Thanos possesses.” Loki said. Yes, this was sounding very promising. That would definitely turn the tide. “I hope.” 

“You hope?” Bruce asked dubiously. 

“They don’t have the same energy pattern as my magic any more than my magic has the same energy pattern as Dr. Strange’s. The only way we could be sure would be to test it on Strange and his Infinity Stone. And I don’t think that would be in our best interest.” Loki admitted. 

“Yes, let’s not.” Dr. Strange agreed. 

“Even if it does work, the effects will be temporary. The Stones generate their own energy; with how powerful they are, they will recharge much more quickly than I did. But, in the time it takes to recharge we send my brother and Stormbreaker after Thanos and he kills him.” Loki finished. 

“The plan is to have Thor whack the uber-boss with his axe?” Tony asked. Suddenly he was less gung-ho about this. 

“Yes,” Loki said with a satisfied smile. He certainly seemed confident in his scenario. If only that was at all comforting. Tony knew how well Loki’s schemes tended to go. 

“You know, I kinda just fought this guy and he seemed even less prone to injury than you Asgardians,” Tony said. 

“Oh, he is. He may be even more powerful on a physical level than Thor.” Loki agreed between mouthfuls. After a moment, he seemed to see what Tony was getting at. “It is an immensely powerful axe. Far more powerful than Mjolnir. It was designed for this level of threat. I promise, neither Stormbreaker nor Thor will let us down.” 

“Ok, then. Teleport us to Thor.” Tony prodded. Might as well get on with the show. It would give them more time to adapt when this inevitably blew up in their faces. 

Loki looked uneasy at that. “That would use much of the magic I have left.” Loki said unwillingly. 

“I can open a portal to Thor for you.” Dr. Strange offered. 

“Oh, don’t make me kiss you again.” Loki said in his husky, sexy voice. Um....what? 

“Um...what?” Tony asked. Loki laughed; Dr. Strange looked slightly sick. 

“I’ll tell you later.” Loki assured him, placing a hand on his arm. 

“Ok...” Tony said reluctantly. They didn’t have time for this now, but he was definitely getting the story on that later. “Strange, you coming?” Suddenly, he was not totally ok with Strange tagging along. 

“I don’t really want to test the bounds of that thing and my magic. I think I am good right where I am.” 

“Ok, Peter, Bruce, you stay with him just in case. We’ll go work on saving the universe.” Tony said in his dictator voice. There wasn’t any time to go about arguing over who went where. Fortunately, they seemed to agree. 

Strange gestured his left hand straight in front of him and then started spinning his right hand counterclockwise. A circle of orange sparks appeared, spinning in time with his hand. Loki and Tony stepped through it and suddenly found themselves back on the battlefield, right by the landed ships that had brought the demons to Earth. 

Thor was there and still fighting. His axe and lightning taking out a dozen aliens at a time. However, he wasn’t fighting alone. There was a raccoon standing on his hind legs, dressed in a leather cover-all and carrying an enormous gun, especially for his size. He was shooting and laughing his ass off. There was also an Ent. No seriously, this was obviously an alien, but totally a young Ent. He was attacking the aliens with whiplike vines that came from his hands. Loki and he watched the battle interestedly for a while before Thor finally spotted them. 

“Brother! I hear you’ve met my new friends, Rabbit and Tree.” Thor said, grinning broadly. Loki rolled his eyes. 

“I am Groot!” Groot responded. 

“Yeah, hi, big guy.” Tony said, looking at Loki. Seriously, aliens man. 

“Groot!” Thor said happily, pointing at his new friend; apparently that meant something to Loki because he scoffed and rolled his eyes. 

“I knew I was never going to hear the end of this.” Loki said. “Rocket, Groot. Hello again.” 

The Raccoon acknowledged Loki with a nod before shooting a few more aliens that were coming at them. Then he did a doubletake at Tony. “Hey! Is this True Love guy?” 

Tony blinked at Rocket for a few moments before daring to look over at Loki. The god was blushing in the most absolutely adorable way. 

“They made assumptions. Don’t read too much into it.” Loki muttered, trying and utterly failing to rub the blush from his face or hide it behind his hand. The god tried to distract them by taking out a half dozen hell hounds with his green fire. 

Tony knew he was grinning like an idiot. Not only was this further confirmation of Loki’s story... well, Tony definitely liked the other stuff too. Thor caught his eye with some raised eyebrows and a small smirk. 

“There’s much to read into that face, Brother. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen you blush like that. Even when...” 

“That’s enough talk. We’re here to fight Thanos, not get into reminiscing.” Loki said quickly and then launched into the plan. 

Tony definitely did not have little cartoon hearts floating around in his head. Nope, he was focusing on the plan, focusing on Thanos. He had all the time in the world for the lovey-dovey stuff later. 

Unsurprisingly, Thor was incredibly supportive of the simple plan. Also, unsurprisingly, that didn’t make Tony feel any better about it. But it was go-time. The demon dogs were dwindling, the rest of the Avengers, now joined by the Guardians, were doing their jobs in taking them out. Now they just needed to confront the big guy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ready for this to be over? 'cause I'm not!


	32. The Rest is Silence

When everything was in place, Loki had the illusion of Dr. Strange lead Thanos right to them. When Thanos appeared, it was hard for Loki to repress his shudder, and he didn’t quite manage it. Thor placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Loki magnanimously allowed it. 

The surprise on Thanos’s face was certainly amusing. He concentrated on Tony, stubbornly standing in a deliberately aggressive and arrogant position, the anti-magic device in his hand hanging loosely at his side. 

“And here I thought I had disposed of this problem.” Thanos said consideringly, walking slowly toward Tony. 

The mortal stood his ground. Loki couldn’t see his expression, but he suspected it was a cocky smirk. “What can I say? I’m like an STD, annoying to deal with and difficult to get rid of.” 

Loki snorted and rolled his eyes; Thor looked at him questioningly, but there was no way that Loki was explaining that one. 

“Scratch that, I never compared myself to a sexually transmitted disease. Can we do this one again? I swear I have a better one. Not a bad penny, that one is way overused and so beneath me both from a humor standpoint and financially speaking. I’m pretty rich, if you didn’t get what I meant by ‘financially speaking’. Do you even know what a penny is? I’m sorry, lost my train of thought. What were we talking about, again?” 

“Well if I can’t shut you up, I’ll have to find someone who will. Loki?” Thanos called. 

It was really odd to see himself just appear next to Thanos. He was in his old armor that he had before Sakaar. He remembered how unwieldy his old helm was compared to his new one and he shook his neck out a bit just to enjoy the lighter weight. He really didn’t like the look on his copy’s face; it was ugly to say the least. He felt a pang when he realized that Thor and Tony would have thought that this was him. He would have looked at them with that look and said those terrible things that Tony couldn’t bring himself to repeat yet. His outrage stoked the fires of anger for Thanos in his gut. Soon, this would be over so very soon. 

“Come back for seconds, Stark?” The Other Loki mocked with a dark smirk. “Did you come up with more flowery protestations of love to try to win me back from the dark side?” 

“Yeah, no. I really don’t want you.” Tony replied as he shrugged. 

Loki grinned at Tony’s cheek. It was so well done. Thanos was actively taken aback by the response. The Other Loki’s face didn’t show surprise, though, it just went blank. Actually, it was a fair approximation of Loki’s face when he didn’t want to give away anything. It was something he had practiced quite often in the mirror when he was young, so he knew it well. 

“See Loki? Mortals are so petty and fickle. You were right to take up with me from the beginning.” Thanos said, obviously trying to recover. 

“Nice try, buddy. Really, you had us going there for a bit. But the thing is, that isn’t Loki.” Tony said. 

“I am,” Loki said, dropping the magic cloaking him in invisibility while leaving it on Thor. “Really, Thanos, it was a nice try, but nobody copies me.” 

“But me,” said Loki’s clone who had now popped up right next to the Other Loki of Thanos’s. 

“Or me,” Said the clone that popped up on Thanos’s other side. 

“And me.” 

“How about me?” 

“You forgot me!” 

Clones popped up all around Thanos, distracting the Titan from the real Loki, looking around, trying to peg which one was the true trickster. While he was distracted, Tony raised up the anti-magic device and fired it at the would-be conqueror. 

Loki, standing behind Tony, was unaffected, but all of his clones in the blast radius promptly disappeared. Right along with Thanos’s copy made from the Reality Stone. The Space and Soul Stones disappeared from the glove and the light from the Reality and Power Stones dimmed. Thanos growled in rage and clenched his fist, but nothing happened. 

Stark let out a bellow of laughter at the Titan’s lack of attack. “Go Muggle-inator!” 

Really? Muggle-inator? Loki scoffed, he would have to make the mortal pay for that one later. Suddenly, Thanos was struck by a massive bolt of lightning. The Titan fell to the ground, still very much alive, but slightly smoking. Loki released the invisibility still hiding Thor, and his brother launched at the Titan. Thanos struggled to get up and just managed to avoid being struck in the heart by meeting Stormbreaker with the Infinity Gauntlet. 

Thor pressed in, but as Loki suspected, Thanos was still slightly stronger than his brother, Infinity Stones or not. Still, Thor had the high ground with Thanos prone. The Titan pressed Stormbreaker to the side and forced Thor to recover his center of balance. Lighting started to spark along Thor’s arms and body and he struck out at Thanos again, forcing the Titan back down before he could regain his feet. 

Thanos growled, clenching his fist again, but the Infinity Stones hadn’t recharged yet. Worry started to prickle down Loki’s back. He had anticipated Thor taking Thanos out with the first blow. Now that the element of surprise was lost, they were down to a purely physical fight. While Loki knew, in the long run, Thor was a more competent fighter, they had no way to know how long it would take for the Infinity Stones to recharge. It could be minutes, or it could be hours. It was anyone’s guess. It could very well be that all Thanos needed was to buy a little time and they would be back to square one. 

Tony was readying the anti-magic device again, Loki would not call it that ridiculous name, waiting for the instant that the Stones showed any sign of powering up again. They both knew that there may not be enough time to act, but there was little else they could do. Loki had just a few drops, metaphorically speaking, of magic left that he knew he needed to save to potentially get him and Tony out of there if they couldn’t stop Thanos regaining his power. Loki put his hand around Tony’s upper arm and the hero gave him a small half-smile. They both turned back to watch Thor grapple with the larger alien. 

Out of fucking nowhere, as Tony would say, Nebula came hurling in. With a battle cry she launched herself at her erstwhile father’s head, kicking it back and drawing attention away from Thor. It was all the opening the god needed. With one heavy swing, Thanos’s head was severed and his body collapsed to the ground. 

That was it. They had done it. After six years, which shouldn’t have felt nearly as long as it did to someone who would live for millennia, Thanos was dead. Loki didn’t have to run anymore. In a wave of relief that made his head light and his knees weak, Loki collapsed to the ground as well. Tony followed him laughing and gathering him in for a hug. Loki pulled Tony to him and kissed him soundly. Then, Loki did what he had wanted to do for days. 

“I love you,” Loki gasped, when he finally had to pull away to get some air. 

Tony looked at him mutely, his face blank with surprise. He was silent for so long that Loki was starting to believe he may have been completely wrong about everything. His heart started racing for an entirely different reason than joy. But then Tony laughed, long and pleased. His face broke out into a grin so big Loki thought his face might crack from the strain. 

“Ha! I win! You totally said it first.” He crowed, looking utterly pleased with himself. 

“Seriously, Stark? That’s all you have to say? Nothing else?” Loki was completely flabbergasted, before he remembered something. “Wait, didn’t the fake me say something about ‘flowery protestations of love’?” 

“I love you too! That’s what I meant to say, of course.” Tony said quickly, then winced. “That's going to come back to bite me, isn’t it? Which, to be fair, that? Before? Definitely shouldn’t count, that wasn’t you.” 

“Later,” Loki promised, interrupting what was likely to be a long babble. “I will definitely be making you pay later. You have a slight reprieve due to your part in defeating Thanos.” 

“It was a pretty key role, you might say. One might say that it was even more key than Thor’s from a certain perspective...” 

“Shut up, you ridiculous mortal.” Loki said and silenced him in the only tried and true way he knew of, grabbing him and kissing him again. 

Thanos was gone. Loki loved Tony. Tony loved him back. The world just fell away until it was just the two of them; nothing else mattered. There would be clean-up to do. There would be explanations to be made. There were plans to solidify, Stones to dispose of and a mortal to be made not-so-mortal. But for now, they were together, and it was enough. Loki could even allow himself to be optimistic. Everything would work out just fine.

 

# The End

# 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Silence!?! Please, this is Tony and Loki, there will be no silence!
> 
> Thank you all for the support and comments! It's been a seriously fun ride! I have a little, one chapter work I'm posting separately soon that serves as a kind of epilogue to this one and teases a potential future story. It's fluffy and fun and if you giggle half as much reading it as I did writing it I will be very pleased. If you guys have any ideas for future stories in this AU or otherwise please let me know! I'd love to hear them! 
> 
> I've got a much darker and (weirdly) way more ridiculous frostiron story in the works with Rabentochter, my newly discovered brain-mate, so keep an eye out for that one as well!


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